![]() ![]() ![]() Already two for two, Mos Def raised expectations to an all time high with the third single released from The Ecstatic, “Casa Bey.” Having already taken two completely different sonic directions with the prior two singles, Mos Def veered down a third path with this track, playfully proclaiming “ I’ve been born to be what I am/ a bright light from a different star” over a Banda Black Rio psych-funk-samba sample. ![]() In just three songs, Mos Def’s The Ecstatic was already standing firm in four-star territory. With different, but equally brilliant singles revealing three vastly different styles, Mos Def could have gone in any number of directions with The Ecstatic. In fact, the finished product does go in seemingly a dozen or so different directions, but most importantly, each track carries the distinction of being vibrant, artfully executed hip-hop. The scrappy, patchwork nature of The Ecstatic makes it fit comfortably with anything in the Stones Throw discography (although it’s on Downtown), and much of this is thanks to producers (and Stones Throw representatives) Oh No and Madlib, each of whom contributes a handful of beats here. Yet with additional production contributions from the likes of The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo, Preservation, Mr. “Supermagic” kicks off the album with a garage rock Bollywood beat from Oh No’s Dr.įlash, Georgia Anne Muldrow and even one J Dilla beat, the album runs a diverse and constantly interesting course, not to mention one that’s more fun than Mos Def has sounded in the last ten years. No’s Oxperiment while Mos, sounding energized, reincorporates Mary Poppins rhymes into his own fierce battle cry. Chad Hugo lays down some bassy, ominous horns for the spectacular “Twilight Speedball,” as Mos Def goes back and forth between decrying “ bad news and good dope” and incorporating Big Boi’s “ feeling great, feeling good, how are you?” Muldrow’s “Roses” is a jazzy, soulful standout, as is “History,” in which Def and Talib Kweli trade verses over Dilla’s breezy, old school loops. MOS DEF THE ECSTATIC FULL ALBUM CODEįlash offering a second production, opening the track with an extremely unsettling description of firepower from an airline pilot before Mos drops in with inspired couplets like “ high status, intrigue and mystery/ special code name on the hotel registry.” Madlib, with the highest number of production credits at four, provides the beats for the album’s most jaw-dropping track, “Auditorium.” Another track with widescreen Bollywood samples, “Auditorium” juxtaposes Mos Def’s fluid, unstoppable delivery (best line: “ soul is the lion’s roar, voice is the siren/ I swing `round wring out and bring down the tyrant/ chop a small axe and knock a giant lopsided“) with Slick Rick’s lyrics from the perspective of an unwelcome visitor in Iraq during the occupation. This newfound vigor and playful tendency from Mos Def also results in a few curious, and frankly kind of weird moments, from the all-Spanish “No Hay Nada Mas,” to the way he pronounces “fi-yerd” on “Workers Comp.” Yet these brief diversions are still pretty fun, if inessential, and are few and far between on an album whose flaws are in short supply. ![]() It seems inaccurate to call The Ecstatic a return to form for Mos Def. ![]()
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