The Ecstatic

Performer: Mos Def
Artist: Slick Rick; Talib Kweli
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Mos Def's 2009 release (and Downtown Records debut), THE ECSTATIC, spent a significant time simmering. After releasing the critically acclaimed BLACK ON BOTH SIDES in 1999, featuring its near-perfect balance of hooks and innovative genre-bending, Mos journeyed deep into the unknown on the experimental THE NEW DANGER. 2006's TRUE MAGIC, while containing some solid tracks, was more of an afterthought to fulfill a label contract. However, the Mos Def on THE ECSTATIC feels like Mos Def Engaged, as the hip-hop wordsmith from Brooklyn lays down some sharp invectives over backdrops both inventive and downright groovy, beats set down by Madlib, Oh No, and many other greats of the game. Most of all, Mos is just having fun frolicking in the fertile fields of his love for hip-hop, tossing offhand references to Run-DMC, Outkast, Ultramagnetic MC's, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and others, and it ends on the single "Casa Bey," a relaxed and defiant jazzy party of an artist who knows he's come into his own.

Spin (p.86) - "First single 'Life in Marvelous Times' builds a furious narrative -- moving from the rapper's project upbringing to the present, where wonders and terrors abound -- over an an epic, sticky synth beat." Entertainment Weekly (p.61) - "Mos is brimming with poetry again, hurling politically charged lyrics like lightning bolts against the thunderous beats behind him." Billboard (p.56) - "The killer first half is filled with off-kilter, dissonant soul hooks and Mos' hypnotic, just south-of-smoked-out verses, all nicely merging his obsessive drive for hip-hop innovation with a distinct purpose." Q (Magazine) (p.111) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t comes as something of a relief to discover that this time around Mos Def once more sounds like he's enjoying himself -- laughing, scatting, even crooning a line or two..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Opener 'Supermagic' sees Def sample Malcolm X....There's plenty here..."

Like many rappers, New York underground hip-hop hero Mos Def was first heard on guest appearances with other artists, in this case Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. It was his 1998 collaboration with the like-minded Talib Kweli in the duo Black Star that brought him fame, however. A subsequent solo album full of similarly progressive tracks was well received, but it was Mos Def's film roles in the late '90s/early '00s (THE ITALIAN JOB, BAMBOOZLED, BROWN SUGAR, etc.) that heightened the forward-looking rapper's profile even further.

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