Original Lab review: “The way I feel sometimes its too hard to sit still / things are so passionate, times are so real” - can’t think of a more important time to repress this record than right now. Mos Def continues to set himself apart from the rest of the Rawkus graduating class by constantly tearing up the rulebook, tapping into blues rock on 2004’s The New Danger and using Juvenile’s “Nolia Clap” as a vehicle for a spine-tingling indictment of the Bush Administration on 2006’s True Magic. For his fourth (and at time of writing, most recent) solo full-length, Mos reaches into the underground and scoops up cult Stones Throw beatsmiths Madlib, Oh No and Georgia Anne Muldrow. In 2017, this sort of cross-pollination is commonplace, but in 2009, Mos was a movie star, and him tapping Madlib for beats was a huge deal (seven whole years before ‘Lib had a credit on a Kanye record). The Neptunes’ contribution (“Twilite Speedball,” rumored to be a rare Chad Hugo solo production) sounds right at home next to Madlib’s beats for “Auditorium” (feat. Slick Rick) and “Wahid,” two of the album’s toughest records. Other highlights include “Pretty Dancer,” “Casa Bey” and the Dilla-produced “History” featuring Black Star co-conspiritor Talib Kweli. Mos leaps from raw spit to neo-soul croon (“Roses”) and bodega serenade (“No Hay Nada Mas”) as effortlessly as the man on the sleeve leaps between two buildings (a still from Charles Burnett’s 1978 film Killer of Sheep). Recommended. cassette version translucent red colored tape shell foldout J-card insert limited edition original release year: 2009 music label: Rhymesayers 2026 reviewed by hannibal chew 10/2017
