Yet with additional production contributions from the likes of The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo, Preservation, Mr. The scrappy, patchwork nature of The Ecstatic makes it fit comfortably with anything in the Stones Throw discography (although it’s on Downtown), and much of this is thanks to producers (and Stones Throw representatives) Oh No and Madlib, each of whom contributes a handful of beats here. In fact, the finished product does go in seemingly a dozen or so different directions, but most importantly, each track carries the distinction of being vibrant, artfully executed hip-hop. With different, but equally brilliant singles revealing three vastly different styles, Mos Def could have gone in any number of directions with The Ecstatic. In just three songs, Mos Def’s The Ecstatic was already standing firm in four-star territory. Already two for two, Mos Def raised expectations to an all time high with the third single released from The Ecstatic, “Casa Bey.” Having already taken two completely different sonic directions with the prior two singles, Mos Def veered down a third path with this track, playfully proclaiming “ I’ve been born to be what I am/ a bright light from a different star” over a Banda Black Rio psych-funk-samba sample. That was just the beginning a few months later he dropped “Quiet Dog,” a minimal high-speed lyrical Calisthenics exercise incorporating elements of “Rapper’s Delight” over furious handclaps and police sirens. Flash, Mos Def delivers the kind of impassioned, intense flow not heard since he outshined Kanye West on “Two Words.” Over a synth-laden production by Ed Banger alum Mr. Yet when Mos Def debuted single “Life In Marvelous Times” at the tail end of 2008, he finally unleashed the kind of fiery, inspired sound everyone knew he was capable of. Regardless of Mos Def’s lack of focus, or even interest, he showed flashes of brilliance on his last two uneven albums, and spit fire when making guest appearances on albums by Kanye West and Talib Kweli, the one rhyme partner that always manages to bring out the best in the Brooklyn emcee. And 2006’s True Magic, with a few tracks being notable exceptions, just sounded deflated and uninspired the fact that it didn’t even have any cover art should give some kind of indication of how slapped-together the whole project seemed. His follow-up to debut Black On Both Sides, 2004’s The New Danger, wasn’t exactly a hip-hop album, though it did contain rapping.
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Yet hip-hop hasn’t been high on Mos Def’s priority list, in spite of it being the area where Mos shines brightest. Though there are highlights throughout, two of the most notable tracks are at the very end: "History," where Talib Kweli joins in over a wistful J Dilla beat, and "Casa Bey," where a playful Mos Def somehow keeps up with Banda Black Rio's deliriously frantic samba funk.Mos Def has kept busier than most in the past decade, having mainly bolstered his acting resume with numerous high profile roles ranging from The Italian Job to Be Kind Rewind, while making appearances on “Real Time With Bill Maher” in his spare time. Flash, the album is a gumbo that adds juicy dub thwacks, regal synthetic horns, tangled piano vamps, dashes of spiritual jazz, and rolling Afro-beat, almost all of which is cloaked in light reverb. Combined with backdrops from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Preservation, the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, and the Ed Banger label's Mr. Altogether, they provide much of the album's dusty off-centeredness even though "Supermagic" has Mos Def at his most energized and alert, its needling psychedelic guitars and sweeping Bollywood drama are transportive. Some of the productions from brothers Madlib and Oh No were pulled from their instrumental releases, including a pair from the India-themed installments of the Beat Konducta series. For those who are deeply into the Stones Throw label, the album won't take quite as long to process. Oscillating between cerebral gibberish and seemingly nonchalant, off-the-cuff boasts, it's obvious that Mos Def is back to enjoying his trade. It was evident that he was not inspired, no doubt prompting a fair portion of his followers to think, "OK, maybe we should have been more specific: please make a good rap album." On The Ecstatic, it's not as if Mos Def makes a full return to the lucid/bug-eyed rhymes heard on decade-old cuts like "Hater Players" and "Hip Hop." Instead, he comes up with a mind-bending, low-key triumph, the kind of magnetic album that takes around a dozen spins to completely unpack. After he released 2006's True Magic, his first all-rap release in seven years - following the back-to-back instant classics Black Star and Black on Both Sides - it was easier to understand why he had been devoting much more time to acting and diversions like The New Danger. Colored vinyl version!!! 2017 reissue - During the first several years of the 2000s, it wasn't unreasonable to want Mos Def, one of the most dazzling living MCs, to make a rap album.