Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Something I always seem to enjoy in music is a surprise. I love coming across a good album that I wasn’t anticipating. Mos Def has accomplished such a feat in his latest release, The Ecstatic. The Ecstatic is leaps and bounds better than Def’s 2006 release, True Magic (his worst album to date), and may be his best album since leaving Black Star.

On The Ecstatic, Mos Def takes his first giant leap forward by collaborating with Madlib on a number of songs. Madlib’s bongo drum/pipe organ beats give Def the ability to seem effortlessly talented, yet progressively accessible (a very hard combination to pull off). Def almost accomplishes this blend, but can’t seem to flee the mix-tape/unfinished feeling on several jams (i.e. "Pistola"," Pretty Dancer" and "Revelations").

Albeit flawed, The Ecstatic still brandishes several gems. Keep your ears open on “Auditorium”, for it’s 70’s kung-fu music intro and smooth fade in and out of a beautiful Madlib beat that gives you the impression it could have appeared on MF Doom’s Born Like This. “Wahid” has a thick bass line that emphasizes Def’s smooth flow and intense rhyming pattern. The most accessible track, “Life in Mysterious Times”, has a dirty south crunk style beat that stands out as the obvious choice for a first single. However, my favorite song is “Quite Dog Bite Hard”. This fast paced track is framed with a deep mallet drumbeat and a quick rhyming scheme that hardly leaves Def room to breathe (did I just spit hot fire? Seriously, rap that last sentence, I think I just became an MC).

Flaws aside, Mos Def’s The Ecstatic, is a great album for the current state of mainstream hip-hop. This album has just enough experimentation peppered with an adequate amount of hooks to allow accessibility. The Ecstatic might just be the transitional album many mainstream fans need to discover those lesser-known hip-hop gems that have been over looked for years. The Ecstatic is far from perfect, but if you take it for what it’s worth; a fun step into an offbeat MC’s sundry world, you are sure to have a good time.

1. Listen start to finish - 10
   
2. Listen again within a week - 13
   
3. Originality - 17
   
4. Advancement - 17
   
5. Remorse - 15

Total - 72