![]() That isn’t really a new direction for black music, but certainly it’s not mundane. Released 20 years ago on Rawkus Records, it was everything real hip-hop fans were looking for. Nothing here sounds remotely as anthemic as Quality‘s “The Proud” and “Get By,” or, for that matter, The New Danger’s “Sex, Love, and Money” and “Sunshine.” At least Mos ambitiously aims to represent the legacy of Kool Herc, Biggie Smalls, John Lee Hooker, and Bad Brains all at once. During the late ’90s battle for the soul of hip-hop, few albums were as important or as revered as Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s collaborative effort released under their adopted Black Star moniker, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. With his literate, wordy flow, he was born to be a backpack rapper, so why he gotta try to be sexy? It’s a kiss of creative death when an album has R&B and hip-hop duets with both Faith Evans and Mary J. On the other hand, The Beautiful Struggle‘s surprising genericness suggests that perhaps Kweli’s commercial aspirations were a bad idea. Its most notable cameo comes from the reclusive Shuggie Otis, who lays down a solid solo on “Blue Black Jack” elsewhere, Mos discourses about everything from “The Panties” to “War,” and updates Grandmaster Melle Mel on the razor-sharp “Close Edge.” Still, this feels and sounds like the album Mos wanted to make, as opposed to the album his label wanted him to make. However, The New Danger‘s title might refer to what happens when a rapper tries to sing, and Mos’ fascination with hard rock and blues stylings - provided by his band, Black Jack Johnson - takes some getting used to. Now Mos and Kweli have dropped new material within weeks of each other, the former’s effort the more experimental and cutting-edge by a long shot. ![]() Meanwhile, Kweli collaborated with Cincinnati-based beatsmith Hi-Tek on the excellent Reflection Eternal, then brought in A-list producers and big-name guests for Quality, which lived up to its title, yet failed to generate Jay-Z-like sales numbers. But after signing a deal with MCA, he was promptly shelved, spending his downtime building up his acting résumé. Fat Booty”) with ecocentric politics (“New World Water”). Mos struck paydirt first, breaking out of the underground ghetto with his gold-selling debut Black on Both Sides, which balanced club bangers (“Ms. With their appealing combination of conscious rhymes, old-school influences, and new-school sensibilities, both were branded as “backpack” MCs, yet both harbored dreams of solo superstardom and mass appeal. Mos Def and Talib Kweli have been joined at the hip since 1998, when, as Blackstar, they led a lyrical resurgence that brought authentic hip-hop credibility back to Brooklyn rap.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |