Love is not a strong enough word. Hip hop has been one of the very few constants in my life over the past 20 years, and the relationship we have goes deeper than love. It's a friend I can call upon to help center me when I'm at my lowest and the perfect companion to my life's celebratory and even mundane moments. This probably sounds dumb, but I feel "cool" when I listen to it and I'm not talking chilly. At it's roots, hip hop is derived from a street culture that involves DJing, breakdancing and graffiti; it's much more than music, it's a way of life for those who are true to it. Throughout the years, hip hop's identity has been watered down and almost completely lost through commercialization and the blurring of musical genres. When I was deciding who to select for my hip hop week, I wanted to present an artist that understood the culture and that stood above the accepted mediocrity that plagues the genre today. Black Star consists of two eloquent wordsmiths that deliver on the two most important qualities needed to be an MC: charisma and content. Dante Smith aka Mos Def is probably the most familiar to some of you from his recent foray into acting, working alongside Jack Black and Bruce Willis in high profile movie roles. He studied Musical Theater while attending college in New York where he crossed paths with Talib Kweli, whose first name means "seeker" in Arabic and last name means "truth" in Swahili. Kweli was raised in New York by a mother and father who were both professors. Mos and Talib are potent storytellers by themselves but together they create this explosive team of social and racial consciousness coupled with enigmatic personalities.
This week you are getting the very best that hip hop has to offer. Intelligent and entertaining verses that are laid over head-nodding and soulful beats by the likes of Hi-Tek, DJ Premier and Ayatollah. You can listen to the albums in any order you wish this week, they are all a decade old but represent the birth of two artists that are now considered pillars in the hip hop community. They continue to make intrepid and thought provoking music today, that is respected by those in the commercial and indie hip hop scenes.
Here's some of their magic off of Mos Def's latest album, last years The Ecstatic:
This Weeks Listening:
Black Star - Black Star
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought
I have to say that rap is the kind of music I am probably least qualified to critique. Having said that, I do enjoy rap music from time to time, like Kanye West, Jay-Z, and most recently the Roots. I tend to listen to it the most when I am working out, it has a way of pushing me and kind of making me feel like a bad ass. Sorry, but that was the best way I could state it. I know others definitely feel a connection with the lyrics, but most of the things they sing about I have a hard time relating to. I am looking forward to seeing what the hype of Black Star is all about and the musical journey they will take me on.
ReplyDelete“Astronomy” has a nice bass line to it that you can’t help but nod your head to, I am somewhat wondering why they didn’t rename the title of this track “Black.” Since that is the constant theme throughout the song. I love how Mos Def and Kwali play off of each other and they both have a very different tone but when blended together they sound very nice. “Re:Definition” has some nice lyrics, but I have to admit that I had to look up most of them to understand what they were saying. This is the problem I have with most rap music is I can’t understand what they are saying half the time. One of my favorite lines in the song is “Still mo blacks is dyin, kids ain’t livin they tryin, “How to make a slave” by Willie Lynch is still applyin.” “Brown Skin Lady” is a great chill song, and I think the intro to the song is quite funny. “B Boys will be boys” sounds like it is the Black Star Anthem. Just straight up spreading the word on the greatness that is “Black Star” and what they are all about. “Respiration” is probably my favorite track on the album, I love the backdrop to this song and there are so many hooks that the song just sucks you in. I also thing that the rapping in this song is some of the smoothest I have ever heard. “Thieves in the Night” is another great song, I love the lyrics and looking at the hidden evils in the world, that we try and put a blind eye towards. The way that Mos Def and Kwali flow off of each other is crazy. This is a great collaborative album, and I see why Justin is so impressed by them.
I typically despise rap primarily due to the content or lack thereof. I cannot connect with smokin trees and banging hoes and shit. I also dislike the made up words that are used as it appears we have officially ran out of rhymes with real worlds. With all of the self promotion going on in rap, you would think that rappers and rap fans would be very good at filling out resumes. Therefore I have not been too excited about this week. My lone exposure to Mos Def is in The Italian Job, Be Kind Rewind, and Dave Chapelle’s Block Party. I have actually been intrigued by the name Mos Def. Bare with me this week as I know less about writing up rap than I do any other genre, which is lacking in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteOn ‘Black on Both Sides’, you can clearly understand his lyrics, the words are real, and there is actually a message throughout. The album as a whole is one of the best rap albums I have ever heard. As Justin mentioned in his write up, this album is full of charisma that is completely absent in today’s commercial rap. The opening track is a highlight for me with some spoken word up front and a catchy beat at the end with a strong message. Ms. Fat Booty was a really cool track about meeting a girl at a club. Most rap songs treat this story like this girl is solely an object to sex up and solely talks about how to get in her. This track tells a story and actually gives her some lines. Do it Now was my least favorite track on the album as Busta brought everything I dislike about rap with him. New World Water had the best head nodding beat of the album featuring what I believe to be a xylophone. Rock N Roll was a humorous song to me as it reminded me of Chapelle Show when he had John Mayer play the guitar in a restaurant and the white people went crazy and destroyed the tables. This seemed like a facetious attempt to show how rock music makes white people violent with what I believe to be a direct shot at Limp Bizkit. Outside of the Star Wars references, ‘Know That’ was another weak track for me with the continuous self promotion. I do, however, like Mathematics, obviously. The was the most political song on the track and had something real to take away from it.
It may just be that one or more of these guys are apparently from Cincinnati, but ‘Reflection’ was the exact opposite of ‘Black on Both Sides’ for me. This was everything I dislike about rap and really all stems from the content. ‘The Blast’ for example has these lyrics strung together ‘I know my son wept 'cause his dad's away, Stop cryin be strong for your momma is what I had to say, To my little man named Amani (mani), Start the party, my crew hot feel these two shots like the blast from a double barrel shotti.’ So it starts with a topic that is very real and is a point of passion and quickly transitions to some absolute nonsense with an imaginary word. ‘This Means You’ had a lot of weak rhymes including constantly rhyming ‘New York’ with ‘New York.’ It also bugs me that there is only one two syllable word in the chorus. ‘If you are just coming in I will say it once more so you can hear cause you need to get up right now and move with this yes this means you.’ There were a few highlights on the album for me. The opening drums on ‘African Dream’ were a nice change of pace and the rest of the beat was pretty catchy. Plus they managed to rhyme ‘snotty tissues’ with’ nobody gonna miss you.’ ‘Down For the Count’ was another one with a ‘krunk’ (if that is a word) beat that got me bobbing my head. The only other track I liked was ‘Good Mourning’ as the beat reminded me of DJ Shadow week with the mysterious and intriguing beat.
ReplyDelete‘Black Star’ fell somewhere in between the previous two. There weren’t any real low points, but there were only a few high ones. This may be due to the album only having 13 tracks with three interludes. ‘Astronomy’ was a good start to the album, although I certainly prefer Mos Def to Talib. Talib lacks that charisma and is on a slightly higher octave than what I feel fits this genre. As for the lyrics, I find it humorous that they use their ‘grandaddy’s armchair’ and the ‘dark side of the moon you don’t see’ to describe how black something is. ‘Re:Defintion’ was a carbon copy of the previous track and fully supports my opinion of Mos > Talib. ‘Hater Players’ was my favorite track on the album as it had a beat I had never really heard before. ‘Thieves in the Night’ was my least favorite as the Charlie Brown piano just didn’t serve well as an underlying beat. ‘Twice Inna Lifetime’ didn’t really have a chance with me due to the name of the track. Usually the slang is used to shorten the word or words. In this case a letter is added and it is pronounced precisely the same as it would be if grammatically correct. I don’t understand this at all.
ReplyDeleteThe first album I listened to was so good that I will be looking for Mos Def albums at Half Price books from now on. Rap definitely deserves a few rotations in Music Togetherness so I am glad Justin is picking them and not me. You guys might get stuck listening to Flobots or something…oh wait, my bad.
The first album I listened to this week was Mos Def. Justin mentioned the rapper's recent foray into acting, but the bit I remember him for most is an episode of "House" in which he plays a medical patient who is "locked inside" his comatose body. He can feel things and he can think straight - he just can't move or communicate with the team in any way. Through his acting, even though he was playing a character, I was able to see an intelligent man, not what I typically expect with rap. So that's how I went into this week.
ReplyDelete"Black on Both Sides" furthered my respect for Mos Def. And I finally figured out where Justin and those guys picked up the "ooh ooooooh!" sound I've heard so often. I like the beat on the first track, and the organ sounds - but he's basically just talking. I didn’t think I would be into that at first, but then I thought, “at least it's not about bitches and hoes” and when I listened a little more closely, I enjoyed Mos’ take on what hip hop really is. (At least what I got from it). As Thomas mentioned, you can tell the man is intelligent, he’s using real words, and he’s got a real message. ( Plus, intelligence and looks wise, this guy is certainly the sexiest man hip hop has to offer).
ReplyDeleteI do like how smoothly the tracks transition into one another, but mostly my problem is a short attention span. I might be able to get a lot more from rap if I stopped to listen more closely to what they're saying. My thing is that I prefer to listen to music that makes me feel good, and that's relaxing or fun -AKA- doesn't make me think too much. If something requires a lot of thought for me to enjoy it, it's not my type of thing - unless it can be fun and entertaining at the same time, which for me, for the most part, this is not. Past the first track, I don't really like beats all that much, so I turn to the lyrics... and I'm still not picking up much. That’s not to say there weren’t strong points – just that I’m not being blown away.
I like the woman singing in "Ms. Fat Booty," and also the track name. Haha. I like that "Climb" has a different feel to it. It's a nice break from the norm. And I did like the beat on "Do It Now," along with the very familiar voice of Busta Rhymes as an added bonus ;) Additionally, I like the music in the background of "New World." I can't put my finger on it, but it sounds familiar…
Like I said, I’m not blown away, but I’m not completely disappointed either. I'll have to post about the other two tomorrow, which is cool I guess since David hasn't posted Arcade Fire yet...
In a time when hip-hop was in sort of a state of chaos, directly after the murders of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G., the mainstream form of the music went in the direction of being as flashy as possible. The music was all about the Cris and the bling, and scanning through the radio it was hard to find anything of substance. On the underground, though, big things were happening....and Mos Def and Talib Kweli were two of the biggest forces to combat the complacence within the industry. They were part of the Native Tongues collective that had produced De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, and preached a positve, afrocentric message. In a time when many rappers were losing touch with who they were, Mos and Talib were there to remind them.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, while both Mos Def and Talib Kweli have created some outstanding music individually, it is together that they both shine the brightest. The Black Star album is easily one of the greatest hip-hop duo albums of all time, and the ability of these guys to play off of each other lyrically is a pinnacle of hip hop. After the short intro, "Astronomy (8th Light)" kicks things off with the message that will dominate the entire album. It's sort of an overview of what Black Star is, and spells out the theme of afrocentric power that they wish for. On the great "Definition", Mos Def introduces his reggae-like sing-song flow to the world, and the duo talks about all the violence that was dominating hip-hop, and how the violence of the lyrics had taken hold and manifested itself in real life with the death of the two biggest rappers in the industry. "Children's Story" is copied in form from the Slick Rick classic of the same name, and while this is a pretty great song in it's own right, it struggles to compare to Rick's 1989 version. J. Rawls beat on "Brown Skin Lady" is one of my favorites on the album. It's really laid back, and fits the tone of the song perfectly. "B Boys Will B Boys" takes us back to the beginnings of hip-hop to the days of breakers and street parties. Mos and Kweli adapt their flows to fit the 80s theme, and listening to the song it really feels as if it would have fit in that time period....they were definitely bringin' '88 back. Hi-Tek's beat on "Respiration" is one of my favorites of all-time, and the lyrics that go with it are just as good. "Blastin' holes in the night til' she bled sunshine" is one of the greatest lyrics I think I've ever heard in my life....it just takes the violence and darkness of the city and injects a bit of light into it....it's just brilliant. As an added bonus we get a verse from Common, who I have to suggest as an artist on Music Togetherness sometime. "Thieves in the Night" is the lyrical centerpiece of the album. For anyone who thought that all hip-hop was about violence and stupidity, this song is the response I'd give you. Mos Def's verse is one of the best of his career, and it's all about African Americans remembering who they are and becoming a cultural force once again. This album is one of the most intelligent, thought-provoking hip-hop albums ever made, and is one of those albums that are a joy to dissect lyrically. It's one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time, and one I'll listen to again many times in the future.
ReplyDelete'Black Star' Album Rating: 94%
Mos Def is my favorite of the two rappers. I love Talib Kweli as well, but when Mos is on lyrically, he makes deciphering lyrics an amazing experience. He's easily one of the most intelligent rappers that I've ever heard, and that intelligence carries over into everything that he does. After a mostly spoken word (yet interesting) intro track, 'Black on Both Sides' really gets going with "Hip-Hop". The beat on the song is hard, and the whole song showcases the best aspects of hip-hop itself. "Love" is all about his love of hip-hop and being an MC, which is something that I think a lot of rappers take for granted. "Ms. Fat Booty" is my favorite song on the album by a long shot, and features one of my favorite vocal samples ever. It's not one of the best songs lyrically of Mos' career, but Ayatollah's beat is amazing. "Do It Now" is one of the few songs on the album with a beat that's reminiscent of the kind of hip-hop that was being made by others (check out Jay-Z's "Life and Times of S. Carter" to see what I mean), and I've never really been a huge fan of Busta Rhymes, although his work on this song isn't bad. "Umi Says" immediately rectifies that problem, though, as it's jazz-fusion beat is unbelievable. It's message of living your life to the fullest of your capabilities and shining your light on the world is one with no boundaries, whether you're black, white or anything in between. I understand the sentiment of "Rock n Roll", but as much as I hate to say it, it comes off as a little racist to me. While I understand that much of the music that we listen to (specifically rock and roll) has it's ultimate roots in African/African American culture, to completely write off all of the contributions of white musicians is kind of ignorant. Plus, to bring up Limp Bizkit in comparison with Bad Brains and Fishbone isn't fair to white people. Following this, Ayatollah goes 2 for 2 in creating amazing beats with great vocal samples on this album. Like I said earlier, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are better when they're working together, and this song is a perfect example of that. "Mathematics" is amazing, as is everything ever produced by DJ Premier, the greatest hip-hop producer of all time. Primo's ability to scratch out a chorus is his greatest atribute, and this song has one of his best. "May-December" is a perfect ending to a great album, closing it out on a nice jazzy note. While I'm not sure whether I like this one or Mos Def's latest album 'The Ecstatic' more, the one thing I'm sure of is that this is an amazing example of everything that's great about Mos Def, and hip-hop in general.
ReplyDelete'Black On Both Sides' Album Rating: 87%
Moving onto Talib Kweli, I’m still hearing a more intelligent man than pop rap has shown us over the past decade. It’s refreshing. I can see where Thomas might be more turn off by this music, but I’m really not. The beats are more mainstream for me, like on “The Blast,” and therefore it’s easy to be entertained without having to read too deeply into the music on the first listen. So he sounds a little more ghetto than Mos, but I like his voice – it fits rap well, or at least my idea of rap. I like the groove on “This Means You.” It reminds me of the bow chicka wow wow from porn or from some Blaxploitation film. But it’s the strings breakdown I admire the most. It’s not until “Africa Dream” that my interest piques again from there. I like the sound and the feel of the drums, and the chill jazz feel to the whole track. “Ghetto Afterlife” is an interesting track. It’s very in your face, and has a strong message. “Love Speakeasy” has a really jazzy feel to it as well, nice for a change of pace (from what I usually consider rap) – especially since it’s an instrumental track. I can see how these two would collaborate well and I can say at this point that I lean toward Mos Def for lyrical content and Talib Kweli for beats. Now for what I thought of their work together.
ReplyDeleteI can tell almost right off the bat that this album brings the strengths from the other two into one. I liked the spoken word intro, followed by the reggae feel of “Definition.” It feels like there is more going on with these beats than on either of their solo albums. Lyrically, as Beth mentioned, it seems like they play really well off one another. Still, personally, nothing really stands out too much until “Boys Will Be Boys,” which is more interesting to listen to than it is good music, at least starting out, then the track moves into something that sounds like a less cheesy version of the “Fresh Prince” theme. I liked it a lot, haha. Although I can see the worth in all of this, it remains one of my least favorite genres, and one of the hardest for me to understand. I don’t know if I could ever just listen to rap for fun. Without catchy loops or especially exciting beats, a lot of rap tracks tend to run together for me. I can appreciate the lyrics, and that they are more intelligent than a lot of their peers – but even with pop rap I only get into the tracks because of the music and don’t usually pay much attention to the lyrics, which I’m getting is most of the purpose here.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a HUGE fan of Talib Kweli outside of Black Star, but 'Train Of Thought' is an absolutely amazing album. The best part of Talib Kweli to me is his ability to fit so many syllables into a line, go off on a little bit of a tangent, and eventually bring everything back into the beat. "The Blast" has a wonderfully hazy beat, and even features some rapping from the producer, Hi-Tek. I love the repetition of words ending in "y" in the background of the song. Once again a song with Mos Def is one of the best on the album, and once again Hi-Tek's production steals the show on "This Means You". "Memories Live" is Talib remembering his life to that point, and how everything led him to where he was at the recording of this album. "Love Language" tries to explain the differences between how men and women relate to each other, and it's all set to a beat that I can only describe as sublime. "Love Speakeasy" takes the musical theme from the song before it, and stretches it out into a full blown jazz track, and it's amazing to hear on a hip-hop album. "Good Mourning" sounds like Talib Kweli set to an Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada track, and finalizes the greatness that is Hi-Tek's production on this album. In all, Talib Kweli shows himself to be an outstandingly thoughtful lyricist, and his flow at most times is hard to top. For me, though, what makes this album a classic is Hi-Tek's production. It was the best work of his career (that I've heard, at least), and makes this album worth playing over and over.
ReplyDelete'Train of Thought' Album Rating: 89%
“Black on both sides” starts off with “Fear not of man” which usually I would not enjoy, as I am not a big fan of spoken word songs, however Mos Def talks with such clarity and the backdrop is very fun and lively. “Hip Hop” is another good track, and I really like the lyric, “Speech is my hammer banging the world into shape, now let it fall.” “Ms. Fat Booty” has a nice retro sampling to it, the way they mix the woman’s vocals into the song just has a really nice flow to it. The way the rapper’s mix in all kinds of different songs/vocals into their songs has always been one of the most interesting aspects to their music for me. “Climb” is not anything I expected to hear on the album. It has an almost techno feel to it, and shows Mos Def vocal skills. I think it has a very futuristic feel to it, and really like that he stepped out of the box with a track like this. “New World Water” has an almost cartoony feel to it, I really like the flow of this track and the lyrics are really strong. “Know That” is a look into Black Star with Mos Def featuring Talib Kweli. I actually really like this track, and it showcases another great vocal sampling. Def and Kweli once again show that they can work off each other’s emotions to make some great rap. “Mathematics” is a clever song, and it has a funny side to it. “May-December” has a nice jazzy feel to it, and I love the way it ends out the album.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Kweli has a smoother sound than Mos Def. On the other hand, I feel when I am listening to Kweli that I am listening to a more main stream rap artist that maybe does not take as many liberties. “Move Somethin” is reminiscent to me of old school rap. It has that simple bass beat, but I also really like the use of horns on this track. “The Blast” is a great track, it has some of the smoothest sounds I have ever heard from a rap artist to date. This music is perfect for when you are in the mood to just chill. I also noticed that Gil Scott Heron put his own two cents in on Kweli. That can only help to boost Kweli’s confidence as an artist. “This Means You” is the collaborative track with Mos Def, and it is another strong showing for the pair. I love the symphonic feel to it, but then at other times it reminds me of some backdrop music to Welcome Back Mr.Kotter. The production on this album so far is superb. I love the message in “Love Language” it really shows the ups and downs in relationships and the things we go through all in the name of love. It also has a really nice backdrop, and adds in some sexy saxophone to set the mood just right. “Love Speakeasy” is a nice follow up to “Love Language” and it almost seems like an intermission in the album. “Eternalists” has another great mix to it, I love the music box sounding backdrop. Overall this album has a very uplifting feel to it that you don’t typically see in hip hop. “Good Mourning” shows off some of the best lyrics on the whole album. I like the lyric “You only scared to die, if you aint living right.” While it is a simple lyric, it holds true to those that live their lives carelessly.
Overall this was a great start for more rap artists in the future. I am also surprised that I think I enjoyed Kweli’s solo album more than Mos Def’s. It is however undeniable that these are two of the most outstanding rap artists of our times, and when brought together make some really nice music.