Throw your preconceptions about Rap in the trash
Written: Dec 04 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very literate, moral intentions clear,
Cons: Some may not go for its rugged musical landscape.
The Bottom Line: a breath of fresh air for Hip-Hop.....
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| sadgit's Full Review: Black on Both Sides [PA] by Mos Def |
Mos Def is of a school of underground Rappers such as Jurassic 5, De La Soul, the Roots, J-Live and his old Blackstar bandmate, Talib Kweli. All of whom are marking Rap's departure from thuggery and negative themes. There is certainly no BS to this album, it's an album of positivity, eloquence, soul and intelligence. This is one of few Hip-Hop albums I have bought with no regrets whatsoever.
Whereas most underground Rappers often devote too much of their albums to attacking commercialised, thuggish or talentless Rappers, and too little on important issues, Mos Def finds the right balance here, and only devotes two or three such tracks on his album. The rest of the album is one of the most politically minded Rap album's I've heard in a long while.
From the opening introduction I knew that I was in for something special as Mos Def gives his thoughts on the current state of negativity in Hip-Hop, the soul of the black communities, how people shouldn't view their self-worth by materialism, and argues that each problem affects the other in a domino effect.
"So if Hip-Hop is about the people, and Hip-Hop won't get better till the people get better, then how do people get better?.....Well my understanding is that people get better when they start to understand that they are valuable, and they not valuable 'cos they got a whole lot a money, or somebody think they sexy, but they valuable 'cos they been created by God....."
"Ms Fat Booty" is the most party orientated track on the album. Where over an infectiously bouncy and mellow blend of jazz and a pumped up bass, Mos Def tells a story about his first meeting with a girl in a bar named Sharice, leading to a long relationship which ultimately didn't work. I quite like the song's intricate storytelling, and it's refreshing to hear a Rapper talking about women with respect, but towards the end it get's confusing and suffers to bad editing.
"Do It Now", featuring guest spots from Busta Rhymes, over an extremely energetically dense and bouncy bass, the two drop random freestyles. The music complements well the aggression of Busta's delivery.
"Yo, yo-yo yo-yo
It's like a freak show, soon as my heat blow
Sometime I speak slow so people understand my street flow
And while we keep it hot, we got the most shine up in
this WHOLE S**T, me and Mos spit and blow the show quick"
There isn't really a subject, but the rhymes are brilliant.
Then the music mellows out for "Got", where Mos Def makes a rather savage diss of the Puff Daddy's and Master P's of the world, warning them that they should be very careful if they return to their own neighbourhoods brandishing gold chains and benzes, because plenty of the hard done to and desperate people living in the Ghetto will have no qualms about robbing or killing them....
"Cause while the goods glisten, certain eyes take position
To observe your trick, and then catch that a** slippin'
Like, come on now ock, what you expect?
Got a month's paycheck danglin' off your neck
And while you Cristal sippin', they rubbin' up they mittens
With heat in mint condition to start the getti-gettin'
They clique starts creepin' like Sandinistin guerrillas
You screamin' playa haters, these n**gas is playa killers
Suffice it to say, this song works for me because Mos Def is communicating more than merely his ambivolence of materialistic Rappers, but also the desperation and hunger still rampant in the Ghetto.
"There's hunger in the street that is hard to defeat
Many steal for sport, but more steal to eat"
A fair ammount of the songs on the album deal with the issues of capitalism and materialism. The songs "New World Water" and "Rock N' Roll" sream with rage at capitalist exploitation of the world's water and of black-created musical artforms.
"Got" and "Mr. N*gga" together are ominous warnings that if black people strive for wealth and materialism, they will find themselves drawn between two worlds and will belong in neither. Whilst their fellow black man living in poverty in the ghetto will now kill them to rob their new riches in order to survive, and the white society will still regard them with intolerance, they will subtlely but surely be subjected to, which is the theme of the next song.
"Mr. N*gger" is a nice song, telling the story of an upper class black man who still has to succumb to demeaning treatment and suspicion because of his skin colour. I'm not entirely convinced of its portrayal of prevailent upper class rascim. Call me naive but I feel that this is somewhat exaggerated- rather than presenting the average upper class black experience, it seems instead to present all the worst case scenarios.
But even so it is still a brilliant song, and with lines like:
"You can laugh and criticise Michael Jackson If you wanna
Woody Allen molested and married his stepdaughter
The same press kicking dirt on Michael's name
Show Woody and Soon-Yi at the playoff game,
holdin hands
Sit back and just bug, think about that
Would he get that type of dap if his name was Woody Black?"
I feel that I'm finally being treated to REAL communication in Rap, instead of some thug trying to prove how hard he is, and forcing mindless violence and sexism down my throat. Here Mos Def is saying lend me your ear and think about what I have to say- the rest is up to you.
Other personal favourites are "Know That", where Talib Kweli makes a guest appearance and drops a brilliant battle verse...
"I follow the code of honor like a real man gonna
Never disrespect no women cause I love my momma
These cats be givin us praise but it ain't that accurate
I give it up to God, all that, love and attachment, get
scary well-prepared with the shears when it get hairy
like how these ni**az is lookin like some fairies
and singin like canaries to the beast
and anybody who will listen to em clearly
Y'all don't hear me though,
even when I'm comin through in stereo
You make a mockery of what I represent properly"
The beat on this one is particularly infectious, and among the tracks best suited for the dance-floor.
But guest appearances aside, more than most albums of this type, there is a strong feeling of loneliness that pervades the album's tone.
Beginning with Mos Def's opening speech where he talks of the American authorities, media and businesses playing God and adoptiong an all seeing presence that crushes an individual's ego. Through to the loneliness of the story of Mos Def's failed relationship in "Ms Fat Booty", through the sadness and searching for hope in "Umi Says" and "Climb" and finally to the perspective of being an outsider to the society of White America in "Mr. N*gger".
Ultimately though the spirit of optimism wins out, as Mos Def says on, "Love"
"They say that goodness in life comes to those that believe, well..... I believe"
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Going to Sleep
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Epinions.com ID:
sadgit
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Member: Tom
Location: Lancashire, United Kingdom
Reviews written: 325
Trusted by: 91 members
About Me:
scrapped the countdown again.....
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