#Mos def the ecstatic songs full#

Though there are highlights throughout, two of the most notable tracks are at the very end: 'History,' where Talib Kweli joins in over a wistful J Dilla beat, and 'Casa Bey,' where a playful Mos Def somehow keeps up with Banda Black Rio's deliriously frantic samba funk. Flash, the album is a gumbo that adds juicy dub thwacks, regal synthetic horns, tangled piano vamps, dashes of spiritual jazz, and rolling Afro-beat, almost all of which is cloaked in light reverb. Combined with backdrops from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Preservation, the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, and the Ed Banger label's Mr. Altogether, they provide much of the album's dusty off-centeredness even though 'Supermagic' has Mos Def at his most energized and alert, its needling psychedelic guitars and sweeping Bollywood drama are transportive. Some of the productions from brothers Madlib and Oh No were pulled from their instrumental releases, including a pair from the India-themed installments of the Beat Konducta series. Secondly, at least Mos is taking his rhymes a bit more. For those who are deeply into the Stones Throw label, the album won't take quite as long to process. There are a couple of initial pointers to take away from The Ecstatic the first being that Def has tried to release an album with a global feel to it, so be prepared for samples galore from Indian and Arabic music, trips to South America, Europe and, occasionally, the USA. Mos Def’s raps about global politics, love, spirituality, and social conditions were informed by the zeitgeist of the late 2000s, Black internationalism, and Pan-Islamic ideas, as he incorporated a number of Islamic references throughout the album. Oscillating between cerebral gibberish and seemingly nonchalant, off-the-cuff boasts, it's obvious that Mos Def is back to enjoying his trade. The Ecstatic was described by music journalists as a conscious and alternative Hip Hop record with an eccentric, internationalist quality.

#Mos def the ecstatic songs full#

It was evident that he was not inspired, no doubt prompting a fair portion of his followers to think, 'OK, maybe we should have been more specific: please make a good rap album.' On The Ecstatic, it's not as if Mos Def makes a full return to the lucid/bug-eyed rhymes heard on decade-old cuts like 'Hater Players' and 'Hip Hop.' Instead, he comes up with a mind-bending, low-key triumph, the kind of magnetic album that takes around a dozen spins to completely unpack. Fat Booty, Mos Def Oh No, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Nate Dogg UMI Says, Mos Def Beauty In The Dark (Groove With You), The Isley.

After he released 2006's True Magic, his first all-rap release in seven years - following the back-to-back instant classics Black Star and Black on Both Sides - it was easier to understand why he had been devoting much more time to acting and diversions like The New Danger. During the first several years of the 2000s, it wasn't unreasonable to want Mos Def, one of the most dazzling living MCs, to make a rap album.