T.S. Eliot wrote that Yeats (possibly the only voice of the early twentieth century who compared to that great lion of poetry) was “one of those few whose history is the history of their own time, who are a part of the consciousness of an age which cannot be understood without them.” And, with that bit of pretension out of the way, let’s introduce the second so-far contender for the best album of 2009: Mos Def’s The Ecstatic.
While Kanye may claim to be the spokesperson of his (and my) generation—and, let’s be frank, this isn’t as ridiculous a claim as most people scoffed that it was; have you heard “Jesus Walks?” Is there any better song that manages to be that angry, introspective, and so damn catchy?--The Ecstatic ranks up there with El-P’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead and Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning as one of the truest, clearest expressions of our modern age to ever be pressed onto vinyl. What it doesn’t have of those two (odd, considering the Boogieman’s momentary bouts of crazy) is the misery or real awful dreams about giant apocalyptic machinery just mowin’ us all down. The Ecstatic is, well, ecstatic, almost entirely free of the self-righteous anger that is one of Mos’s few failings as an MC.
Those who have listened to The New Danger will know his other main failing: Mos is just too damn clever for his own good. Yes Mos, we really admire your fusion of punk rock and hip-hop, but do we need three different tracks that explore it in the same manner? Your blues numbers are really great, but do they need to be six minutes long? And the last twenty minutes of that album have some pretty decent songs Mos, but seventy minutes is too long for a rap album.
The Ecstatic, on the other hand, is every bit as clever and innovative, but restrained. And, lyrically, it packs just as much of a punch as Def’s legendary debuts, Black Star and Black on Both Sides. Musically, it shines: from the El-P like doom and chitter of “Twilite Speedball” to his back-and-forth with Georgia Anne Muldrow on “Roses,” where his rapping flows in between her classic-style R&B, the album is incredibly sophisticated and musically innovative. And on the occasions like the beautiful end of "Pistola" or the All-Spanish, All-Crooning "No Hey Nada Mas," when Mos breaks into full-out song, he establishes himself as being in the Cee-Lo caliber of "rappers who could cut an incredible soul album."
And, as stated, it’s an album that is in an incredible product of its time: it’s filled with Arabic chanting and religious hymns, “gentlemen getting down on those Middle-Eastern instruments,” as Slick Rick puts it in his guest verse. It opens with a quote from Malcolm X, in the brief window between his view-altering pilgrimage and his incredibly suspicious death, and the sample that opens “The Embassy” is so bizarre, paranoia-inducing, and ominous that it, again, begs comparisons to El-P.
There’s an incredible element of hope throughout the album, however, something that was sorely lacking for many people in 2003 and 2007, when Cage and El-P, respectively, made the rap albums that best personified their times. Fitting enough, given that we no longer have a president who seems to view the entire world as our enemy. This is perhaps best exemplified by a line from “Wahid:” “Fret not ghetto world. Guess what: God is on your side. The devil is a lie. The Empire holds all the gold and the guns but when all is said and done there's only One.” Moreso than perhaps any Muslim rapper, Def has made an album fueled by his faith and the beliefs that lie at his very core. Interestingly, the album it calls to mind for me, more than any other, is Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey, a similarly lush and experimental outpouring of faith, protest, hope, and beauty. And, like Marcus Garvey, one can only hope that The Ecstatic goes down, not simply as a career-defining album for Mos, but as an album that defines its medium in its age. Mos himself seems to recognize this album's importance as a potential icon, declaring in the lead single:
While Kanye may claim to be the spokesperson of his (and my) generation—and, let’s be frank, this isn’t as ridiculous a claim as most people scoffed that it was; have you heard “Jesus Walks?” Is there any better song that manages to be that angry, introspective, and so damn catchy?--The Ecstatic ranks up there with El-P’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead and Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning as one of the truest, clearest expressions of our modern age to ever be pressed onto vinyl. What it doesn’t have of those two (odd, considering the Boogieman’s momentary bouts of crazy) is the misery or real awful dreams about giant apocalyptic machinery just mowin’ us all down. The Ecstatic is, well, ecstatic, almost entirely free of the self-righteous anger that is one of Mos’s few failings as an MC.
Those who have listened to The New Danger will know his other main failing: Mos is just too damn clever for his own good. Yes Mos, we really admire your fusion of punk rock and hip-hop, but do we need three different tracks that explore it in the same manner? Your blues numbers are really great, but do they need to be six minutes long? And the last twenty minutes of that album have some pretty decent songs Mos, but seventy minutes is too long for a rap album.
The Ecstatic, on the other hand, is every bit as clever and innovative, but restrained. And, lyrically, it packs just as much of a punch as Def’s legendary debuts, Black Star and Black on Both Sides. Musically, it shines: from the El-P like doom and chitter of “Twilite Speedball” to his back-and-forth with Georgia Anne Muldrow on “Roses,” where his rapping flows in between her classic-style R&B, the album is incredibly sophisticated and musically innovative. And on the occasions like the beautiful end of "Pistola" or the All-Spanish, All-Crooning "No Hey Nada Mas," when Mos breaks into full-out song, he establishes himself as being in the Cee-Lo caliber of "rappers who could cut an incredible soul album."
And, as stated, it’s an album that is in an incredible product of its time: it’s filled with Arabic chanting and religious hymns, “gentlemen getting down on those Middle-Eastern instruments,” as Slick Rick puts it in his guest verse. It opens with a quote from Malcolm X, in the brief window between his view-altering pilgrimage and his incredibly suspicious death, and the sample that opens “The Embassy” is so bizarre, paranoia-inducing, and ominous that it, again, begs comparisons to El-P.
There’s an incredible element of hope throughout the album, however, something that was sorely lacking for many people in 2003 and 2007, when Cage and El-P, respectively, made the rap albums that best personified their times. Fitting enough, given that we no longer have a president who seems to view the entire world as our enemy. This is perhaps best exemplified by a line from “Wahid:” “Fret not ghetto world. Guess what: God is on your side. The devil is a lie. The Empire holds all the gold and the guns but when all is said and done there's only One.” Moreso than perhaps any Muslim rapper, Def has made an album fueled by his faith and the beliefs that lie at his very core. Interestingly, the album it calls to mind for me, more than any other, is Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey, a similarly lush and experimental outpouring of faith, protest, hope, and beauty. And, like Marcus Garvey, one can only hope that The Ecstatic goes down, not simply as a career-defining album for Mos, but as an album that defines its medium in its age. Mos himself seems to recognize this album's importance as a potential icon, declaring in the lead single:
"We are alive in amazing times
delicate hearts, diabolical minds
revelations, hatred, love & war…
not more or less than ever before,
it’s just too much for your mind to absorb”
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3 comments:
Glad to have discovered your blog!
I read this a few days ago when you sent me the link, love it.
also, I stole your formatting because the others blow.
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