Black On Both Sides

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Mos Def and Talib Kweli's "Black Star" had been one of the standout hip-hop records of the year thus far, so this new solo disk for Rawkus was very keenly anticipated indeed. Thankfully, it delivers mightily. Black Star hosted a bookstore benefit at NYC's Knitting Factory in September, and Mr. Def pretty much stole the show - MCing, rapping, singing, joking, hauling people on stage ... Here, he also contributes to just about everything, including keyboards, bass, drums, production, string arrangements, and probably artwork, manufacturing, sticking the labels on the record, delivery to your door, etc. Very impressive, in a Stevie Wonder-Prince-D'Angelo kinda way. Having said that, there's some top guest turns: co-producers include DJ Premier and Psycho Les; Busta Rhymes is his uniquely bad self; Q-Tip and Talib Kweli do their thing; and "Climb" features singer Vinia Mojica on a quite lovely, almost ambient cut. Conscious lyrics abound - this is a defiantly political album in places - but there's a funky warmth to the record too. Given the empty, macho posturing of much rap, it's cool to hear someone unafraid to both speak his mind and actually sing - with real soul. With "Umi Says", Mos Def takes a tasty jungley groove and lays down his soulful, laid-back delivery, rolling effortlessly around the insistent drums - sounding for all the world like Gil Scott Heron jamming with Lonnie Liston Smith (probably a nice cut on the accompanying instrumentals album, it features Will I Am of the Black Eyed Peas on Fender Rhodes). In fact, on this cut it becomes clear what a unique style Mos Def has now - a synthesis of East Coast rap, 70s soul, and reggae toasting, either moving across the beat (a lazily, peaceful drift as on "Habitat" - an angry snarl as on "Brooklyn"), or driving the rhythms, hitting the one. Musically, it draws from a rich seam - inferring the beat surgery of Missy and Timbaland, the evolution from Daisy Age to Wu Tang and beyond, reggae, dub, jazz-funk, soul. This rich stew of influences is often cooked up in the space of one track, as with the awesome "Rock n Roll", with its incredible, credible punk/thrash finale! Though it was immediately likable, it took plenty of listening before the quality of Black Star really began to hit home - so, I'm looking forward to playing the hell out of this record. It already feels like a classic.