Never been to heavy into rap or hip-hop, but recently I've found that there are some songs that are just plain good. What brought my attention to this, was all the "End of the Year Top" yada yada yada lists. I looked at numerous top albums of the year lists, from ESPN to Rolling Stone. I stumbled upon Mos Def's latest, went out and bought it, and I can say I'm a fan.
The CD kicks off with a track called "Supermagic," that opens with an excerpt from a speech by Malcolm X at Oxford University, and rolls into Mos Def's signature musical-rapping. "Twilite Speedball" features some hot-and-heavy horn samples backing what seems to be an almost chronicling of Mos Def's career in a dark yet redeeming sense. "Auditorium" with Slick Rick is in my opinion the perfect example of what I mean. Mos Def talks about how he's living every day in this world, and trying to find a way to make a change, but no one seems to know how to come together anymore.
One of the album's singles, "Life in Marvelous Times," just about sums up the entire piece. While telling all the gritty details of his life story, from remembering better times as a fifth grader, to "no space in the budget for a cake, it's when you gotta fly by night to save the day." I'd say this album is definitely worth a listen, whether you catch the songs on the internet or go out and pick up the album.
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