Mos Def - The Ecstatic

 

Having spent more time on film sets lately (The Woodsman, Something the Lord Made) than behind the boards, there’s no better time for Dante "Beze" Terrell Smith – a.k.a. Mos Def – to make a comeback.

There's also the fact that his groundbreaking debut - 1999’s Black On Both Sides – has yet to be blessed with a worthy follow up. Sure 2004’s The New Danger and 2007’s True Magic had their moments. They were certainly ambitious. But they were less than impressive overall.
 
Not such a surprise then that The Ecstatic, Smith’s fourth album, begins with a weighty 1964 speech by Malcolm X – a way, perhaps, of acknowledging the seriousness of the task ahead. Sampling Malcolm X isn't particularly innovative of course - it was practically de rigeur at one point in the genre’s history, but here it pre-empts “Supermagic,” a vigorous opening track that's all lyrical acrobatics and guitar-shredding backdrop.

The message is clear: this rapper is out to take no prisoners.
 
The dynamic energy unleashed on “Supermagic” propels the album from peak to peak. There’s the parping trombones, coiled twangs and clonking glockenspiels of “Twilite Speedball” (produced by The Neptune’s Chad Hugo); the exotic, Indian-esque “Auditorium” (produced by Madlib) - a duet between Def and rap legend Slick Rick (who also drops some of his best rhymes since 1999’s Art Of Storytelling).
 
And then there's the sawing, spiralling Oriental strings of “Wahid,” which segues slickly (and somewhat surprisingly) into the rolling piano of “Priority.” At just over a minute long, this latter song is more engaging than most full-length efforts by his contemporaries.

Already it's obvious that The Ecstatic is an exhilarating return to form. But there's more. The variety of sounds and styles that unfurls is dazzling, ranging confidently from the intense drums-and-voice of “Quiet Dog” and the glossy, hyper-real “Life In Marvelous Times” (created by Ed Banger producer Mr. Flash) to the soulful J Dilla-produced “History,” which features Def’s old Black Star sparring partner Talib Kweli.
 
Even more radical are songs like “Roses,” an expansive vocal duet with cosmic crooner Georgia Anne Muldrow, “Case Bey,” which samples Banda Black Rio's "Casa Forte," and the wonderfully mellow “No Hay Nada Mas”, on which the rapper not only sings, but does so in Spanish, underscoring his image as a 21st century Renaissance man.


Naturally, not everything makes the grade. The shuffling “The Embassy” and conceptual sharp-shooter “Pistola” are definitely fillers. Not only that but Def's vocal limitations are made clear on the meandering and decidedly mediocre “Workers Camp”.
 
Misfires aside, The Ecstatic remains one of the best independent hip hop albums this year. The big question being asked is whether it's a Black On Both Sides "Part 2"? Well, no man steps in the same river twice - certainly not someone as creatively restless as Mos Def - and such comparisons are usually redundant. But while he might never recapture the potency of his debut, Dante "Beze" Terrell Smith has certainly, at long last, created a worthy successor.