The song continues with Mos Def talking about various things until his rapping finally kicks in at the 3 minute mark and you’re immediately overwhelmed by Mos Def’s incredible rhyming ability and recognisable voice. So the next time you ask yourself where Hip-Hop is goinĪsk yourself. People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright
If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop?
#The concept of mos def the ecstatic album update
The song starts out with tribal sounding drums accompanied by a human beatbox, until Mos Def kicks in with a small update about the current state of Hip-Hop. And on top of that all, he's also enjoying a moderatly succesfull acting career. He actually plays most of the live instrumentation like bass, keyboards and percussion himself. While his MC-skills are to say the least, impressive, he can also sing and is a multi-instrumentalist. Mos Def, better known to some as the other half of the duo Black Star, is a multi talented rapper. Featuring both incredible production and rhyme skills, the true power of the album is that it is goddamn enjoyable. This feels indulgent without MD being committed to any of his whims, and that exposes Mos Def as an artist that no longer seems to know what he wants to do.Review Summary: While containing two lesser tracks, Black On Both Sides is a classic. But the most important aspect of any piece of music is, to quote the legendary Michael Jackson (rest in peace), the way it makes you FEEL. It is still an album with various merits, not to mention certain songs that are astonishing – and he will always be a talented MC (something he rededicates himself to here, to an extent). A genuine “return-to-form” shouldn’t describe a small handful of songs, and the rest of it is more a continuation of the form he has displayed this decade. Here, the first half is curious but pretty wicked – the second half is just plain head-scratching, with at least six or seven inoffensive songs that weigh “The Ecstatic” down. Of course, that isn’t the actual sequence of the album, but strangely enough, it highlighted that trying to listen to the whole album was a chore – usually, 45 minute LP’s fly by pace at a furious pace. Schulman, what a prick!”) the addictive mismatching of “The Embassy” and the usual wickedness of a J Dilla beat on “History.” Finally, the funk of “Casa Bey” rounds of a bewitching sequence that, unfortunately, the rest of this short sixteen track album can’t hope to match. Next, the barnstorming melodrama of “Life In Marvelous Times” (“Mr. “Auditorium” featuring SLICK RICK came up first, an early contender for song of the year. Apple must be getting a bit too clever, because iTunes decided to randomly sequence the songs in order of quality. So how helpful did the shuffle test prove to be? Very. Fine, he might still stray on “The Ecstatic” but it feels more restrained, and thankfully the album clocks in at only 45 minutes. Part of the problem with his diminishing relationship with hip hop fans is his insistence on half-singing: but listeners generally want you to COMMIT to whatever you choose, so either sing properly, even if you’re shit (“Umi Says”), or not at all (“Beef”). Secondly, at least Mos is taking his rhymes a bit more seriously, and, depending on your POV, he doesn’t sing too much. There are a couple of initial pointers to take away from “The Ecstatic” – the first being that Def has tried to release an album with a “global” feel to it, so be prepared for samples galore from Indian and Arabic music, trips to South America, Europe and, occasionally, the USA. It hasn’t really worked out that well, though, has it? This year has reached the halfway point, and it all seemed so promising. For him to be still rated so highly is somewhat miraculous, especially when combined with his continued assault on Hollywood. Yes, he released a classic, but in the next decade, his second album was somewhat overrated and his third was so poor, it almost rendered him simply over as a hip hop entity. For what it is worth, it took me a long time to digest “Black On Both Sides” – although, over the course of a year, friends continually rammed it down my eardrums, I was too taken with Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate” which was released just a few months after BOBS. If it drastically improves or reduces your listening experience, then you will find out the truth about what you REALLY THINK about the LP, not what you HOPED it would be.Īnd that is what I needed to do with “The Ecstatic” – Mos Def’s latest “return-to-form” comeback. Press the “Shuffle” button, and see what happens. It doesn’t always work, but it is an interesting acid test for certain bodies of work. There is a very valuable little trick – sorry, “method” – that I occasionally deploy if I’m undecided about an album.
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