![]() ![]() ![]() But, to be fair, it took a few listens to come to that conclusion. No’s Oxperiment? And you did it while displaying some fiery breath control? Oh man, Mos, you better not let me down with this rest of this album. ![]() Def, you chose to start your latest album spitting over one of my favorite Oh No beats from Dr. But if you’re ready, then let’s get into this. So if you’re not prepared for progressive, forward-thinking hip-hop, hit the stop button and throw on Black Star or something. Whether you love or hate those records, they were clearly departures from what made the Brooklyn emcee burst onto the scene. If you need evidence, just look at The New Danger and True Magic. Hell, if you’ve kept up with his career, you knew that already. Now, you need to remember or realize that with this record, Mos is not creating a sequel to his classic debut Black on Both Sides. Thus, it’s important to know that when diving into The Ecstatic, you need to first take a deep breath. Remember, these were many of the same listeners who either loved or chose to ignore the rap-blues-rock hybrid The New Danger. As a result, some fair-weather fans were able to let the whole debacle slide. Rumors were then spread that the album was simply a means of getting out of his contract with Geffen. A lackluster release with only a handful of tracks worth listening to, it had many of his loyal fans crying afoul. In late 2006, he dropped the nearly fatally dull True Magic. Pretty Flaco, Dante, the Boogie Man, and so on. Though there are highlights throughout, two of the most notable tracks are at the very end: "History," where Talib Kweli joins in over a wistful J Dilla beat, and "Casa Bey," where a playful Mos Def somehow keeps up with Banda Black Rio's deliriously frantic samba funk.His acting roles aside, it’s been about two-and-a-half years since we last heard from the Mighty Mos Def, a.k.a. Some of the productions from brothers Madlib and Oh No were pulled from their instrumental releases, including a pair from the India-themed installments of the Beat Konducta series.Īltogether, they provide much of the album's dusty off-centeredness even though "Supermagic" has Mos Def at his most energized and alert, its needling psychedelic guitars and sweeping Bollywood drama are transportive.Ĭombined with backdrops from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Preservation, the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, and the Ed Banger label's Mr.įlash, the album is a gumbo that adds juicy dub thwacks, regal synthetic horns, tangled piano vamps, dashes of spiritual jazz, and rolling Afro-beat, almost all of which is cloaked in light reverb. Oscillating between cerebral gibberish and seemingly nonchalant, off-the-cuff boasts, it's obvious that Mos Def is back to enjoying his trade.įor those who are deeply into the Stones Throw label, the album won't take quite as long to process. It was evident that he was not inspired, no doubt prompting a fair portion of his followers to think, "OK, maybe we should have been more specific: please make a good rap album." On The Ecstatic, it's not as if Mos Def makes a full return to the lucid/bug-eyed rhymes heard on decade-old cuts like "Hater Players" and "Hip Hop." Instead, he comes up with a mind-bending, low-key triumph, the kind of magnetic album that takes around a dozen spins to completely unpack. During the first several years of the 2000s, it wasn't unreasonable to want Mos Def, one of the most dazzling living MCs, to make a rap album.Īfter he released 2006's True Magic, his first all-rap release in seven years - following the back-to-back instant classics Black Star and Black on Both Sides - it was easier to understand why he had been devoting much more time to acting and diversions like The New Danger. ![]()
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