Road to Zion

This song is not just another reggae track: it opens with a sample from Russian Lullaby by Ella Fitzgerald that blends into a drumbeat rhythm that seems to come from two different worlds. The voices of Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Nas intertwine in a dialogue that ranges from the intimate to the epic, as if each verse were a step on a path that never ends. The hook isn’t in a single catchy riff, but in that mix of ancient melodies and modern beats that makes the track sound like something that was always there, yet only now takes shape.

They recorded it in 2005 as part of Welcome to Jamrock, the album that cemented Damian on the international radar. The video, shot in Kew Gardens, is almost a short film: Nas appears locked in a prison cell, but the key arrives in the form of a postcard with the Lion of Judah, and the escape brings him back to a neighborhood hallway where Damian hands him more letters. Among the cameos are George Clinton and Game, but what stands out most is the chemistry between the two MCs, which later led them to record Distant Relatives together five years later. The track was released as a single in the United States and Europe, but in the United Kingdom it was left for later, as if they knew that sound had no rush.