![]() ![]() “Mos Def's partnership with Talib Kweli produced one of the most important hip-hop albums of the late '90s, 1997's brilliant Black Star. ![]() ![]() Vinia Mojica (who is known for singing on Native Tongues songs) also sings a duet with Mos Def on the song "Climb". The lyrics Q-Tip recites are similar to his previously stated lyrics on A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga". Kweli raps the second and final verse of "Know That", while Busta goes back and forth with Mos on "Do It Now". Talib Kweli (one-half of Black Star with Mos Def), Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes are the only main rappers to be featured on the album. Prior to the album's recording, Mos Def had collaborated with rapper Talib Kweli for the duo's studio album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998), which raised high expectations for a solo effort.īlack on Both Sides features an emphasis on live instrumentation and socially conscious lyrics. It is one of my favorite records of all time it’s also my favorite hip-hop album of all time.Black on Both Sides is the debut album of American rapper Mos Def, originally released in 1999 by Rawkus Records. Good show, Mos-well-played.īlack on Both Sides is still in regular rotation in my speakers, after nearly a decade. It is interesting to hear now, in 2008, that scientists and environmentalists are decrying the sham and environmental nightmare of commercial bottled water, while Mos Def casually mentions it in this tirade about the corporate abuses of the world’s most important, most abundant and most exploited natural resources, and he did it over ten years ago. It is a dizzying tour of the importance and state of water worldwide. A close reading of the lyrics reveals the true creativity and depth of intellect Mos puts in his lyrics. While it’s not my favorite track on the album, “New World Water” is a startling take on one of this planet’s most basic resources. Def takes the listener on a tour of all the stupid things you shouldn’t do at night in the City. Following Busta’s cameo, Mos flows into “Got,” which is a lesson on how to not get robbed in New York (avoid: “ High Posting when you’re far from home, or High Posting when you’re all alone.“) Mr. The team-up with Busta Rhymes is charismatic and punctuates Mos Def’s fluid lyrical delivery well. It’s uncharacteristic on this album in its posturing, but it’s catchy as hell. While the content of the lyrics aren’t the most thought-provoking, the Mos / Busta team-up is energetic and hypnotic. ![]() “Do It Now,” with Busta Rhymes, is by far one of the catchiest tracks on the record. When the album is over you feel like you’ve had Mos over as a guest for a week and have engaged in all the late night drunken debates on modern life that you would expect from any true friend. The album launches from here into a trip around Mos’ observations on love, Brooklyn, the origins of rock music, relationships, getting robbed, racism, and just about anything and everything. Mos Def’s strengths, dynamic and engaging beats, intelligent lyrics and creative flow, come together to craft this statement on hip-hop culture and the hip-hop music industry. It’s a meta-hip hop track a hip-hop track about hip-hop. The album’s second track, “Hip Hop,” is the real opener, a genre track, much in the vein of “Rock and Roll All Night,” by Kiss. It’s a four-and-a-half minute song with a three-minute intro if your song has three minutes of introduction, your name should be Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and the song should continue another 8 minutes. The album’s first track is a musical preface, much like a preface you might see in a book, and like in a book, you can skip it. I got what I was seeking in Black on Both Sides. I was so pissed off at how crappy that movie was that I went straight into Tower Records hoping to redeem my evening with a good CD purchase. I purchased Black on Both Sides as an impulse buy at a mall after my roommate forced me to attend the second worst movie I’ve ever seen, George Lucas’ Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. ![]()
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