By Odeisel

In Hip-Hop, you know what to expect when you go to a New York show. Brooklyn is in the house. There will be a B.I.G. tribute.  If it’s a mainstream show, the ladies will run this mother****r.  If it’s an underground show there will probably be no ladies in the house. Oh and there will at least be a half hour period when the artists linger in the greenroom drinking or are stuck in traffic and the crowd gets restless.  Then you get the headliner and hopefully, it was worth the back and knee ache that comes with standing on wooden floors or concrete for over four hours.  Mos Def, brilliant Renaissance man of many talents, was on hand last night, in mist and rain, set to show and prove that he would be worth the wait.

Opening for Mos was the inscrutable Jay Electronica.  Electronica is enigma as MC; his Magnolia Projects, New Orleans pedigree belied by his profound lyricism and multilayered subject matter. His set was a bit uneven as he was overly conversational, stopping and starting many times to talk to the crowd, take a drink from someone in the crowd (that he later paid for) and shout out Diddy, whose Santa-like omnipresence is borderline creepy.  Once he got down to business, however he never minced words, delivering stout lyrics full of social commentary, current events, and good natured humor.

Electronica brought out Just Blaze to assist and Just played hype man for half the set. There was a Slum Village tribute to both legend J Dilla and recently departed Baatin, as well as the obligatory “Who Shot Ya” powered Biggie requiem. The main draw back to his stage set is that he never finishes his songs.  He always stops the beat to kick the a cappella verse.  While doing that occasionally adds dramatic effect, it loses its potency when used as convention rather than device.   He did have great rapport with the crowd and good control.  He had presence which is not always easy in an outdoor venue, particularly one in the rain. He’s got work to do in order to create a credible show, but it was the perfect setup to the headliner.

Mos Def is a virtuoso, possessing of many talents not native to your average or even greater emcees.  He took to the stage on a drum set, banging away like an African griot, providing his own soundtrack to the tales he so masterfully tells. To rap with a voice that distinct and keep your flow and breath control is something that most upper level performers should be able to do.  To do that and keep time with drums is borderline freakish but throughout his set, he hops on and off the drums seamlessly.

Mos Def’s booming voice complements his full set of musical knowledge and his show went from Motown revue to Afro-Cuban rhythm section to Soca jam. He is comfortable in every single one of these media and switches code between each like a kid from the hood working in corporate America.  His library is always informed and he performs everything from a cover of “Billy Jean” in a tribute to the Michael Jackson, to the Brazilian beats that power his single “Casa Bey” to flexing his bilingual skills on The Ecstatic’s “No Hay Nada Mas.” For the first time in years, the chip on his shoulder is gone, and he is truly reveling in his talent and the power that such gifts confer to him as a performer.

Bathed in red light, dressed in all black, devoid of stage props, Mos was engaging, and interacting with an all ages crowd as one of the few rappers than can possibly do a show for the babies.  Of course he exuded confidence and when melded with his booming voice, he had every woman there eating from the palm of his hand, no small feat considering these were not groupies and knew ALL the lyrics from Black Star to new album. You had the sense that no matter what medium he attempted, he has the talent to go beyond mediocre.

When it was all said and done, Mos came back to what made him the people’s champ and dropped his verses from “Respiration” and “Definition.”  There were times when switching between lyrics and his sing-songy chat that the words were unintelligible, but it came across almost as scatting and no one really held it against him.  Of course no Mos Def show is complete without the timeless “Umi Says” from Black on Both Sides.

Seeing Mos Def perform on such a fantastic level is bitter sweet.  He embodies every single superlative you ever imagine when considering our musical and masculine ceiling as a culture.  He’s aware of his emotions without bitching out. Musically brilliant without the seething arrogance normally accompanied by such superiority.  Unafraid to challenge paradigms.  Unconventional without that weirdness. Lyrically sublime and rich of substance without the holier than thou nose turned to the sky.  Last night he was all of that and then some.  But then you wish he would focus all that brilliance on Hip-Hop. He is the part time lover that you wish was yours, but you know you share that girl. You know that no matter how bad you want it, the good times are fleeting.  Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em.  Most definitely. If he’s in your town, get ecstatic and go see him. It’s an experience you  will never forget.

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