Mos Def Creates an Ecstatic and There You Have It

Ecstasy is a “poetic frenzy or rapture” and ecstatic describes an “exalted feeling” of an “intense” and “pleasurable” emotion. Aptly named, Mos Def’s The Ecstatic finds itself correlating to these two related words and definitions; throughout the record, a mix of emotions emerges-from joy to sorrow and from passive indifference to fiery passion-all of them expressed with a deep potency.

After peaking with his work in Black Star with Talib Kweli, along with his first solo album, Black on Both Sides, Mos Def’s next two albums seemed to show the rapper slipping, even sounding resigned at times on 2006′s True Magic. Finally, with The Ecstatic, we see Mos Def recapturing the wild excitement of his earlier work, sounding elated to be on a track.

Rather than a typical hip-hop album, it’s truly progressive. Most of the songs disregard choruses, instead choosing to barrel through verse after verse, a technique that has also been used by other artists, particularly on 2004′s Madvillainy, the collaboration album between rapper MF DOOM and producer Madlib (who, incidentally, contributed beats for several songs on The Ecstatic). In fact, Madlib’s contributions help give The Ecstatic its very Eastern or more worldly feel. This would be due to all of those beats coming from his Beat Konducta in India. And, in many ways, The Ecstatic surveys hip-hop culture, hitting on many of the main themes found throughout the genre, such as gunplay, politics, women, and dissing other MCs.

The album begins with Muslim chanting, referencing Mos Def’s own Islamic faith, and a sound bite from Malcolm X on “Supermagic.” Though The Ecstatic has many general political observations, the only explicitly political statement speaks out about the Iraq War: “And looking at me curious: a young Iraqi kid/Carrying laundry, what’s wrong G, hungry?/No, gimme my oil, get f*@k out of my country.” This comes from Slick Rick, who is featured on “Auditorium,” one of the stand-out tracks on the album.

On “Life in Marvelous Times,” the record’s first single, Mos Def flips back and forth between memories of his youth and the present day. Each of these “bright moments” describes the stark realities of urban life, pointing out the gap between the rich and poor (“They green grass is green, our green grass is brown”); ultimately, the message and song’s overall tone is triumphant, shown by the song’s title, as well as the final verse:

And we are alive in amazing times

Delicate hearts, diabolical minds

Revelations, hatred, love, and war

And more and more and more and more

And more of less than ever before

It’s just too much ‘more’ for your mind to absorb

It’s scary like hell but there’s no doubt

We can’t be alive in no time but NOW

“History,” produced by the late J Dilla, features Talib Kweli and Mos Def, collectively known as Black Star, reuniting on record for the first time in years. For fans of the group and underground hip-hop in general, it is a long-awaited moment that turns out to be worth the wait. One can only hope the two continue to step into the booth together in the future.

Even with its oddball moments, such as “No Hay Nada Mas,” a song completely rapped in Spanish, The Ecstatic is one of the best hip-hop albums of the year and an early contender for best album of the year. But, more than that, it is a return to form for one of hip-hop’s best, a return to form that fully showcases Mos Def’s talent and certainly keeps fans anxious for more that will inevitably come, hopefully sooner rather than later.  –Cassie Traun

The Ecstatic was released on June 9, 2009 on Downtown Records. Visit http://www.myspace.com/mosdef