The General Public

MOS DEF's The Ecstatic

I can’t say that I don’t get excited about new Tuesday drops… because I do.  I’m a music lover and always have something to keep my ears and eyes out for.  I’d like to think I’m acting how a true fan would, but it seems like some of that excitement has changed over the years with the industry shift. I always limit myself to only checking a few “leaked” song and promo videos, that way it’s new to me when I go to listen.  When a album finally drops, I like to lay down at night, put the headphones on and dissect away.  I listen to most of my music at night when I’m blocking out the neighborhood noise and daily stress.  Now that I have the premise set, here’s my review of MOS DEF “The Ecstatic”.

The album starts off with a slick intro titled “Supermagic.”  It’s classic mic ripping by the emcee I have listened to since ‘98.  It’s followed up with a song called “Twilite Speedball,” produced by Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, a group  I have never been a fan of – or any of their production. “Twilight Speedball” is no exception, however MOS is usually not one of those emcees that you can say, “He’s dope, but his beat selection is wack”.  That and “Life In Marvelous Times” are the only songs where I felt he should have let it go and found a beat worthy of his lyrics and flow.

The rest of the production on “The Ecstatic” is definitely upper echelon.  If you doubt that, just check out my favorite song on the album, “The Auditorium” featuring Slick Rick.  The beat and concept are amazing and Slick Rick kills his guest spot.  This is one to have you smiling and get the head nodding north/south.  Other songs that were standouts for every reason people dig MOS are “Wahid,” a beautiful song called “Priority,” “The Embassy,” “Pistola,” “Revelations,” “Casa Bey” and “History” featuring the other Black Star member Talib Kweli.

One complaint about MOS’ albums is sometimes they seem a little sloppy.  That doesn’t automatically make a song bad, but sometimes the rawness of what seems to be studio improvising leaves me wondering what could have been.  But regardless of how much is written outside or off the top he always seems to have the wordplay that you keep finding nuggets in with every listen.  That’s above being an emcee, that’s real writing.  I don’t think I heard him slip off topic for even a second. Another thing I feel is great about his catalog is the mixing and people that know music/production will hopefully appreciate this.  Madlib produced 4 songs on the album and I felt like he had the strongest production.  “History” was produced by J Dilla and of course it’s dope!

There weren’t many at all, but the one disappointment was the song “Roses.”  I’m a major fan of Georgia Anne Muldrow but the ad lib vocals from MOS on this song seem way out of place.  He should have just left it be and maybe just let her put the song on her album.  I know why he would want to keep it on his, but it just didn’t flow right.  Other songs that I didn’t think were outstanding were “Workers Comp”, “Quiet Dog Bite Hard”, “No Hay Nada Mas”, and “Pretty Dancer”.  Some of those fall into the studio improvising trap I mentioned.

It almost feels like a crime writing anything but good things about this emcee I hold in high esteem, because overall this album is really fresh.  It’s inspiring in many ways to me as an artist and human being.  The man’s soul always shines through no matter what.

– 2 Radios. This is a solid effort from MOS DEF, something his fans will appreciate, but if your not already a fan, there’s better MOS albums to start off with.