Opening with a Malcolm X sound bite (Is this a cliché? Either way, it works) that gives way to a violent guitar beat, he chants about rumors of wars on “Revelations” and evokes international espionage over a belly dance sample on “The Embassy.” “Auditorium” proves to be the album’s standout moment, with a haunting antique string-based beat by Madlib and Slick Rick rapping from the perspective of a “ soldier in Iraq” in a guest verse that somehow manages to upstage Mos in his own song.ĭespite his politics, Mos Def always remained one of the more uplifting socially conscious rappers (honestly, how many somber hip-hop acts can you think of?). Overt politics above all make The Ecstatic on par with Mos Def’s best work. Excessive guest rappers are one of the worst indulgences of hip-hop, and Mos Def continues to buck the trend by featuring only three guests on The Ecstatic, including his Blackstar partner Talib Kweli. Most welcome, however, is the lack of guest rappers. Even though the strongest songs appear in the album’s first half, The Ecstatic never quite feels like it overstays its welcome. While a 16-track rap album may seem daunting, forcing listeners to prepare for an overlong bore (most MCs seriously need to self-edit), the whole affair clocks in at 45 minutes, with some songs lasting under two minutes. What keeps the album from becoming by-the-numbers is Mos Def’s restraint. A song like “Priority,” with its minimalist piano beat, sounds like it was ripped straight out of the RZA Production Handbook circa 1994, but in a good way. It’s not all experimentation, though, as The Ecstatic features more conventional trappings like soul samples. Flash) make the unconventional instruments bend to the genre. Using instruments like xylophones and horns, Mos and his producers (including Madlib, Preservation and Mr. Instead of sounding like a rock song with Mos rapping over it, “Supermagic” uses a guitar loop as part of the beat, a synthesis of rap and rock that recalls the re-appropriation and incorporation treatment hip-hop has given to soul and R&B. Tracks like “Twilight Speedball” and the Zepplin-esque (seriously) “Supermagic,” with their guitar-centric beats, are like an accomplishment of what Mos attempted on The New Danger. What’s most impressive most about The Ecstatic is the instrumentation. After the lukewarm reception to the appreciably ambitious The New Danger and the confusingly half-assed, probably contractually-obligated True Magic, the mighty Mos Def has returned with The Ecstatic, a comeback album that lives up to its title, combining the energy of Black on Both Sides with the experimental quality of The New Danger. Sonic Youth (average age: 50.6) releasing an album is still a big deal, while the Wu-Tang Clan (average age: 39) is treated like a gaggle of geriatrics. It feels like many MCs lose their touch the longer they’re divorced from their humble origins, and it doesn’t help that hip-hop is always about the Next Big Thing. this could catch on.To many of us, Mos Def seemed like socially conscious hip-hop’s answer to Ice Cube: a talented rapper who fell to the allure of Hollywood and ended up better known as an actor (though Mos works with Michel Gondry and Garth Jennings, while Cube’s happy trading pratfalls for paychecks). Pete Fowler's vinyl toys for the Super Furry Animals, Green Day Converse shoes, David Bowie coloured contact lenses, Black-Eyed Peas toilet roll. We'd love to see more of these avatars: physical representations of a virtual album. And the CD.Įven if you do stick to the CD format, you can even leave out the music, as Danger Mouse proved recently. Meanwhile, Tool drummer Josh Freese offered a range of packages with his Since 1972 album: $7 got you a CD, $50 got you the CD and five minutes on the phone with Josh, and if you spend $75,000 Josh gives you his drum kit, puts together a five-song EP about your life and becomes your personal assistant for a month. Each nifty-gifty set included the download of the album itself, and a giant poster of a psychedelic horse. Mr Def may be the biggest name to get shirty, but he's not the first: last year, neon quirkpopsters Of Montreal released the Skeletal Lamping long-player in the form of a CD, vinyl LP, tote bag, t-shirt, badge set, paper lantern and wall decal set. Digital music has freed artists from the shackles of the physical form, which means you can package your album however you like. It'll be available on 7 July for $40 (£25), or you can listen now at /mosdef. The idea began with a $60 (£36) compilation mix t-shirt by LnA clothing, Downtown Music and Invisble DJ, who are now stitching up The Ecstatic. The t-shirt features the album cover on the front, a tracklisting on the back, and a code on the tag to download the actual music. The Ecstatic will be downloadable with a special code when you buy the garment. Rapper, actor and former Bill Cosby sidekick Mos Def is to release his latest album on a t-shirt.
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