Mos Def - Supermagic
To be honest, I haven't been stoked on a Mos Def record in a while. I loved that he hooked up with some dudes from Bad Brains and Living Colour for The New Danger but his take on funk/rock/soul and attempt at "singing" just didn't speak to me. This weird fascination of becoming some sort of genre-transcending rapper (pre-Weezy losing his mind and Kanye's boner for autotune) continued on True Magic. Even though the "proper" rap tracks on these records showed glimpses of greatness, they couldn't hold a candle to shit like Violently, silently, shine so vibrantly/That eyes squint to catch a glimpse/Embrace the bass with my dark ink fingertips/Used to speak the King's English.
Though now we've got The Ecstatic and from the first track in, it's as if he's been revitalised. It's all business from the get go as a Malcolm X excerpt sets it all off. Immediately followed by a Selda Bağcan sample, there's an exotic mood in the air before before the drums and guitars kick in and flatten you. Much credit should be given to Oh No (Madlib's little broham) for giving Mos a beat he can just tear into and with one verse renew my faith that he can still do it like very few can.
Though now we've got The Ecstatic and from the first track in, it's as if he's been revitalised. It's all business from the get go as a Malcolm X excerpt sets it all off. Immediately followed by a Selda Bağcan sample, there's an exotic mood in the air before before the drums and guitars kick in and flatten you. Much credit should be given to Oh No (Madlib's little broham) for giving Mos a beat he can just tear into and with one verse renew my faith that he can still do it like very few can.
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