12/23/2023 0 Comments Mos def the ecstatic malcolm xUsing instruments like xylophones and horns, Mos and his producers (including Madlib, Preservation and Mr. Instead of sounding like a rock song with Mos rapping over it, “Supermagic” uses a guitar loop as part of the beat, a synthesis of rap and rock that recalls the re-appropriation and incorporation treatment hip-hop has given to soul and R&B. Tracks like “Twilight Speedball” and the Zepplin-esque (seriously) “Supermagic,” with their guitar-centric beats, are like an accomplishment of what Mos attempted on The New Danger. What’s most impressive most about The Ecstatic is the instrumentation. After the lukewarm reception to the appreciably ambitious The New Danger and the confusingly half-assed, probably contractually-obligated True Magic, the mighty Mos Def has returned with The Ecstatic, a comeback album that lives up to its title, combining the energy of Black on Both Sides with the experimental quality of The New Danger. Sonic Youth (average age: 50.6) releasing an album is still a big deal, while the Wu-Tang Clan (average age: 39) is treated like a gaggle of geriatrics. It feels like many MCs lose their touch the longer they’re divorced from their humble origins, and it doesn’t help that hip-hop is always about the Next Big Thing. To many of us, Mos Def seemed like socially conscious hip-hop’s answer to Ice Cube: a talented rapper who fell to the allure of Hollywood and ended up better known as an actor (though Mos works with Michel Gondry and Garth Jennings, while Cube’s happy trading pratfalls for paychecks).
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