Mos Def - The Ecstatic (Album)
Mos Def is one of those people that are ridiculously good at just about everything. He’s been making music for over 15 years now, starting in little known hip hop act Urban Thermo Dynamics before joining forces with Talib Kweli to form Black Star in 1998. In the following year he released his first solo record, Black on Both Sides, followed by two more outstanding albums, The New Danger and True Magic.
He’s also quite a talented actor and has appeared in a number of movies, most notably Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Be Kind Rewind, as well as being part of the Broadway world. He’s also been around the TV circuit, appearing regularly on Chappelle’s Show and hosting Def Poetry. Never quiet with his opinions, he’s always been associated with the socially-conscious brand of hip hop which emerged as an alternative to gangsta rap in the mid-90s.
It’s been three years since his last release, and The Ecstatic has arrived just in time to satisfy the world’s cravings for Mighty Mos. Whether you like him or not, it’s impossible to deny the talent this man possesses, which has only sharpened over time, making his fourth solo album an incredible piece of work. The Ecstatic has that trademark Mos Def feel to it – just the right amount of political relevance, social awareness and ego. It drips with influences from across the world: from a tinge of Middle Eastern flavour to Mos displaying his bilingual abilities with a song in Spanish. This album really does feature a bit of everything, including guest appearances by Slick Rick and Talib Kweli, of course...and not to mention that the one and only J Dilla produced one of the songs!
The Ecstatic is a genuinely good record that possesses everything you could want from hip hop: quality beats infused with influences drawn from drastically different genres that work so well together thanks to good producers and clever thinking by talented musicians; lyrical wit and personal charm displayed by an artist making comments relevant to his context, which stay true to the messages he has been passing onto the world for over a decade, without ever being preachy. It’s that old school sound his music was an original product of, made relevant to the present day.
The Ecstatic is an uplifting and optimistic album, but with an undercurrent of restless, revolutionary fervour – as you’d expect from a Mos Def record.
