From 20th May, so I'm surprised that it hasn't been posted yet (or at least I couldn't find it posted)

http://www.spin.com/reviews/mos-def-ecstatic-downtown

''Within a few verses of thunderous lead-off track "Supermagic," underpinned by a righteous sample of Turkish psych songstress Selda Bagcan, "Cherokee chief rocka" Mos Def more than makes amends for three years away from hip-hop, not to mention his disastrous 2006 Geffen swan song, True Magic. Despite estimable acting chops (The Woodsman, Something the Lord Made), the former Black Star co-captain is among our greatest MCs, and The Ecstatic is easily his finest full-length since Black on Both Sides, his 1999 solo debut.

First single "Life in Marvelous Times" builds a furious narrative -- moving from the rapper's project upbringing to the present, where wonders and terrors abound -- over an epic, sticky synth beat (from Ed Banger producer Mr. Flash). While he professes to send his message to the "penthouse, pavement, and curb," it's the grimy, not glossy, that dominates here.

"Wahid" continues the Near Eastern theme as Mos lyrically collapses the inner city and the battlefield, two places where guns and bulletproof vests proliferate. "Twilight Speedball" posits the rapper's flow as a drug, full of "bad news and good dope." and despite invoking Obama on "History," Mos trades rhymes with old partner Talib Kweli, powerfully asserting that the present remains tense -- and hope still has a lot of work to do.''

4/5 stars.

A good sign.

It's all a bit quiet on this front, is it not?

hopefully this new CD will be a consistent lengthy album like BOBS but my expectations of his music is so low it doesn't matter...

I spelled disappointment wrong in my title above....
anyways...
I have all three of his albums and I will get this one, just seems like he should release more rap influenced tracks in his albums and stop trying to "experiment". His last two albums weren't good and his live performances are always lackluster. I wish dude would get off his high horse and be like Talib and consistently make albums for his fans.....

Cant wait ,think mos must have heard the feedback from true magik,

>I spelled disappointment wrong in my title above....
>anyways...
>I have all three of his albums and I will get this one, just
>seems like he should release more rap influenced tracks in his
>albums and stop trying to "experiment". His last two albums
>weren't good and his live performances are always lackluster.
>I wish dude would get off his high horse and be like Talib and
>consistently make albums for his fans.....

really? i haven't really felt kweli since quality. maybe i need to go back and try again, but i didn't have a built in resistance to kweli before, i just have been extremely underwhelmed since aforementioned solo effort.

so is Liberation and Right About Now....
Talib also has two underground Beautiful Mixtapes that are decent...
Mos just takes too many chances with his music and the result sounds corny....
from the snippets I've heard off of The Estatic I'm thinking its on the same level as Tru3 Magic....

say word Badu is finally gonna drop part 2?!? SHOOT i might have to actually buy that one!

aight.cool.

~*~
inspiration is free.

i love lonnie rashid lynn aka common(sense), a loyal fan since resurrection.

"Don't worry about ANYTHING, pray about EVERYTHING!" \0/

"sain't i ain't & never do i pretend to be"

I can't believe it's been 10 years since Black on Both Sides dropped!

I look forward to hearing his new joints.

~*~
inspiration is free.

i love lonnie rashid lynn aka common(sense), a loyal fan since resurrection.

"Don't worry about ANYTHING, pray about EVERYTHING!" \0/

"sain't i ain't & never do i pretend to be"

Mos def has not been a disappointment since 2000, he does not need to come down off his high horse, his performances, people must not have been to his performances with Robert Glasper... People need to catch up to Mos< he has grown as an artist and rightfully so. He has evolved, I'm sorry but I enjoyed True Magic. It was not a classic but it had its moments. Also mos is bored, that why the effort does not seem there. He went over people's heads and people hardly appreciated it.

>I'm sorry but I enjoyed True
>Magic. It was not a classic but it had its moments.

I didn't like it.

I loved New Danger though.

True magic was a mistake, when it dropped people were like WTF!

it was like a mixtape or an unfinished album a label accidently released and didn't even market. hell it didn't have cover art from what i remember it was just a CD in a jewel case.

jeez that makes me feel old, 10 years since BOBS. Most of the rap i still listen to is from that era. it's crazy. i'm turn into one of those people who only talked about the golden era and i was like dude it's time to move on.

This reads like a rookie writer, as if SPIN just gave it up to him, cuz they didn't care that much about it to begin with. Even with it being this short, I'd expect more comparisons to past work, instead of just general criticism that doesn't sound very convincing in the first place.

the writer is not very good at all his thoughts are not concise at all.
this is a great album all around though.
i will purchase when it drops.

...quite good. but yeah, damn... ten years since BoBS.
~~~~~

From what I've heard off the new album, Mos Def is back to his rapping roots. His beat choice reminds me of DOOM for some reason. But i think mos def has been on point lately, atleast in his collaborations, with the roots, and with stephen marley. Also i saw him in concert a couple weeks ago and he killed it. absolutely killed it new songs and old.
Needless to say i'm ready for the new album

i can see what your saying bout the doom-like production. i saw a video where mos was reciting doom line for line.

I don't know if I'll support this brother's music any further....
It's obvious he doesn't care or feel the need to work hard on an album for HIS FANS and nobody else but his fans.... He want's to be lazy about it and he thinks we should create our own theory on what he's trying to do with each song. I'm done....

I sadly think the same... That thing sounds like a bootleg, a mixtape or something. Those beats from Madlib and Oh No are known. Not to use great words but it doesn't sound very respectful to me...

Auditorium... It was supposed to be a classic joint, but even if the verses are dope, I wonder whether Mos and Rick have ever been in the the same studio. And as said, it's a second hand sound. The productions are weak and Mos sounds on Prozac or something.

Come on! The brother is so gifted...

He should call RjD2, Nujabes or some cats who are able to give him challenging beats to bang! I mean, where the hell is James Poyser when we need him?!

I may still trust in him, though...

0 for 3 since BOBS

How many chances does a guy get?

People are caught up in the fact that its new Mos...but this is not good.

Nice moments, sure. But people are really making excuses or giving him some kind of "I want him to be good so bad" handicap.

This just isn't a good CD.


I can't think of another artist that's been allowed to disappoint 3 straight albums this bad...maybe Nas? But this board hates Nas.

Guess at the end of the day the dude is all potential.

i'd say the ecstatic is good, not great but it's good.

it's dark as shit. but true magic and the new danger were sad.

good thing his acting career is going well he should have been in terminator 3 since common is only good at sounding like he's high.

>I don't know if I'll support this brother's music any
>further....
>It's obvious he doesn't care or feel the need to work hard on
>an album for HIS FANS and nobody else but his fans.... He
>want's to be lazy about it and he thinks we should create our
>own theory on what he's trying to do with each song. I'm
>done....

"The Ecstatic" is a great album. I feel MOS DEF put alot of time and hardwork into this album it's well worth my hard earned money!

I like the beat selection a lot. The Auditorium beat is real chill. I have to listen to it a few more times to let the lyrics set in. Slick Rick's verse was real nice, I have always loved this man.

Amazon download $3.99

And I had $1 off a digital purchase since I bought a CD from them a couple weeks ago, so only $3.

But I like it a lot. Honestly, I could see it matching BOBS for me (but I've never been as absolutely in love with that album as everyone else was). Slick Rick's verse has got to be my favourite part of the album though.

And something strange: I originally hated the album art, but after hearing the album, it really works for me now.

and I like it a lot. There are a few tracks that nowadays I skip over though just because they don't interest me as much anymore. I just appreciate hearing some new stuff that is quality from Mos. I really like Casa Bey a lot after hearing it a few times. I think it's a quality album. I like the cover art but I don't really get too caught up in that usually.

but it is good

Haven't been on here in a while, but I copped the album and I truly enjoyed it and I think it is his best album since Black on Both Sides.

Peace.

nice

Had the release for a week: was even scared to listen after the harsh okp reviews I've read...

It's a time travellers album: I'm glad I walk to work: glad to observe change through the way "my people" walk these streets: glad to have a beat to step to: the ecstatic

The mighty mos def did a good job!

nice review//

i didn't like the ecstatic :(

the new danger was fiiiiyah. i wish the whole album had been raw like zimzallabim, ghetto rock and all that

black on both sides is classic.

i was really dissapointed in most of the beats, the brevity of the tracks and the stream of consciousness flow from mos. i would've liked something more structured...