My review of Mos Def's The New Danger

[SuperHiro]

You can also name this: I didn't wait five years for 'competent'

I don't want to get into the history about the evolution of my musical tastes, so here's the shortened version. Discovered hip hop during the "Native Tongue" period, stopped listening to hip hop during the gangsta rap stage, then came back in 1999. All thanks to an abosolutely awesome album. That album was Black Star's Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. Wow.

The next album was Mos Def's follow up, his solo album Black on Both Sides. While not an awesome classic album, it was really really really close. I'm talking 9.98 close. I am a total Mos Def fanboy. I watched that god awful Carmen remake on MTv because he was in it. I discovered The Roots because of him. Blah blah blah, you get it.

Now, 5 years TO THE DAY later, Mos Def releases his 2nd solo album. Before that I had to scrape at the bottom of the barrell, listening to his guest shots and the occasional shot on Dave Chappelle. Sorry Mos, I love you, but I'm not buying the Brown Sugar soundtrack for 1 song. And all I can say is, "It's pretty decent"

It's certainly not terrible. If I had to compare him, I'd say he was the black Beck. Genre bending funk. A lot of the album is just funky as all hell. But some songs just have me reaching for the "hunh!?" picture. For those not in the know, Mos Def orginal follow up was going to be the Black Jack Johnson project, a "black rocknroll group". Unfortunately Jack Johnson the solo artist showed up, and that apparantly threw everything out of wack. So there's a lot of recycled tracks on here. Not that that's bad. I should also note that his singing voice, which was passable in Black on Both Sides, is now really really good. Miles above Andre 3000's.

Best Track: Ghetto Rock This song is my new, "I'm going to listen to this song and then kick your ass" song.

Worst Track: The Rape Over. This is because I'm not a big fan of Jay-Z's The Takeover. Same producer, same beat. Pretty cool concept, but it's just not Mos. It just doesn't fit his flow and lyrical style.

Final Judgement: Too much Do it Now, not enough Ms. Fat Booty. And don't get me wrong, Do it Now is one of my favorite tracks on Black on Both Sides.

Should I buy it?: Of course you should. It's Mos Def. That alone makes it's three times better than the other garbage that's in your friendly hip hop aisle? However, the rock songs don't rock hard enough. If Rick Rubin produced those tracks... or hell just executive produced the album, it would have been a near classic.

Long Term Outlook: It'll crack the bottom of my top ten.

Current top 10 favorite hip hop albums ever.

10) Cannibal Ox, The Cold Vein
09) Common, Like Water for Chocolate
08) Ugly Duckling, Taste the Secret
07) Mos Def, The New Danger
06) Madvillian, Madvilliany
05) A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders
04) The Roots, Things Fall Apart
03) Mos Def, Black on Both Sides
02) De La Soul, De La Soul is Dead
01) Black Star, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star

[tswright]

So a merely competent album cracks your all-time hip-hop top ten?

I"m a huge BOBS fan. Hu-uge. So I've been waiting for THE NEW DANGER with bated breath ever since I found out it was being released this fall. That said, Mos really dropped the ball with this one. I like the breakdown at the end of Rock and Roll as much as the next guy but in my estimation the Black Jack Johnson material on NEW DANGER is weak. I mean, rap-rock doesn't automatically become a good thing just because it's a black guy on vocals, y'know (not that all of the Black Jack Johnson material is rap-rock but there are a couple of tunes that don't really have anything to distinguish them from a shitty Limp Bizkit song)? There are a few moments that really work and hit home but I just don't think it's that great of a record. For me, this year's true successor to BOBS is K-OS's JOYFUL REBELLION. Same sing-songy vocals, same effortless genre hopping, and the same spiritual focus to much of the lyrics.

Kind of a disappointing year for Black Star related material as Kweli's new one is pretty mediocre too. Way to blatantly recycle Get By, dude.