Album Review: Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Album Review: Mos Def – The Ecstatic

Posted On: June 8, 2009
Posted By: planetill
Comments: 1

By Odeisel

Mos Def is Yoda; powerful practitioner of a seemingly dying art, conspicuous in his absence. A whisper feared by an empire that barely acknowledges his existence. The rebellion prays for his interest to rise enough to deliver but other pursuits occupy his time.

Mos’ raw power and presence as an emcee are immediate. You take note of the vocabulary and his references alert you to his worldliness. But what’s really subtle is that once you get beyond the flow, the voice, and the presence, Mos Def is a gutter Brooklyn dude and is keenly possessed of hood sensibility, which is what truly informs his words.

That subterranean intimacy provides the extra conduit that connects the bourgeoisie and the boulevard. Simply put he’s the most obscenely talented emcee who ever lived. What if Jigga was handsome and rapped about more than crack? What if Nas had a better voice and multiple flows? What if Tupac had superior emcee skills? Oh by the way, he’s bilingual para mi gente. At his best, these are questions that Mos Def makes you consider.

To whom much is given, much is expected, and while his career has been superb there is a feeling that he could have been even greater; that he could have achieved more. His new work, The Ecstatic is more of what we expect: enough goodies for his fans but not enough to convert the non–believers.

There are tracks where you can hear his boredom and you get a feeling that conventional four bar schemes and arrangements are so easy to him that he rebels in the middle of a track, sometimes with his trademark signing or with a stray delivery that attempts to push the song structure someplace new. Other places it manifests by kicking whole verse en espanol as he does on the track “No Hay Nada Mas”

The album picks up speed and potency when Mos sticks to the script. The first instance occurs on the track “Auditorium” which is flat-out manhandled by the legendary Slick Rick, who shows absolutely no rust in his performance. Rick uses his trademark duel identity style to present the mindstate of a US soldier in Iraq at the same time as delivering the thoughts of a young Iraqi. When he’s locked in, not many are creative as Rick, and this certainly is a high point of the album.

Another high comes courtesy of fellow Black Star compatriot Talib Kweli on the track on the track “History.” The familiar combination brings you more of the flavor you missed from their joint effort but it is Kweli who truly delivers on this track.

“I was born in the decade of decadence where they worship what they had, Ford was president, do the math/ war was ended when the North Vietnamese, stormed the city of Saigon, We was like bye, we was gone.”

What Kweli lacks in charisma and presence compared to Mos, he more than makes up with precision and content, forcing you to take heed. “History” makes you remember why they work so well together.

Other standout tracks include “Pistola and “Pretty Danger” which is the album version of the freestyle he dropped on Youtube recently during his challenge to Wayne, Jay-z and pretty much every highly regarded rapper. It’s dope, but it carried more weight as an a capella than it does on this album.

Musically the apex of the album occurs with the final track “Casa Bey” which features a very free Mos Def flowing on a rapidly changing beat and following those changes with very precise and crisp changes in flow and delivery. This song is what truly shows what Mos Def can do as an emcee and highlights his versatility. The beat itself is very musical and never allows you to be lulled to sleep by a loop. Interestingly, he says the song, “I’ve been born to be what I am, bright light from a distant star.” And this is where you see who Mos Def is. A brilliant, yet distant talent who is perfectly comfortable being away from the madness of Hip-Hop and secure in his position as feared from afar and uncompromised in his art.

Mos Def’s Muslim faith is also apparent throughout the album with instances of certain melodies, interludes of prayer either by himself directly or via the use of samples, as in “Wahid.” This expression is particularly timely considering the present state of global affairs. Again Mos delivers that social aspect with subtle aggression in a way that very few rappers have the ability to do.

In a nutshell, The Ecstatic is a merry mixing of songs that have no general connectivity or narrative. It is full of faith, saturated with content, but the dish as a whole, while possessing those nutrients, is not as tasty as you would have expected. It gets you full, and you’ll be nourished, but you won’t be smacking your lips unless you’re already a fan of the Mighty Mos Def.

Out of 5