December 10, 2004 @ 11:35 am

Review & Audio Interview: Mos Def's New Danger

Mos Def
New Danger
Geffen Records

Mos Def seems to be getting better with time like good wine. His album the New Danger is explosive, creative, political, experimental, soulful, relaxing, and hyfee. It’s rare nowadays to find an album that you can listen to all the way through. S

Mos Def seems to be getting better with time like good wine. His album the New Danger is explosive, creative, political, experimental, soulful, relaxing, and hyfee. It's rare nowadays to find an album that you can listen to all the way through. So, it's saying a lot to say that I could listen to this all week. Lyrically, the New Danger has cemented Mos in the upper eschelon of wordsmiths and album makers in this art that we call rap. When listening to the album, I heard some of modern black music's greatest voices- Gil Scott Heron, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Isaac Hayes, BB King, and Curtis Mayfield just to name a few. Mos did them justice in pulling from them all to create something new, 'cause sometimes you get these artists who are passionate music lovers but they don't create dope music- Mos doesn't have that problem. The album starts off with the "Boogie Man Song," a song that reminds me of one of Mos' dopest songs, "My Umi," which is a melodic flow that has him gently singing over it. My favorites on the album are "The Rape Over," in which Mos talks about all of the external behind the scene forces that are raping rap music like "old white men," "Hennesey," "cocaine," "E-pills" and "Clear Channel." Another one of my favorites is "Panties," which is a song where Mos is crooning to the ladies in much the way that Marvin Gaye may have, had he been born 20 years later. The one that takes the cake is "Grown Man Business" in terms of rhyming, which features Minnesota who was stupid spittin' with Mos over a Barry White beat, talking about Bronx and Brooklyn street politics. The range of genres of music that is contained in the production of this one album is like a rap anthology of great black music over the last 100 years. I also liked the fact that he featured his talented new band "Black Jack Johnson," which is named after the first black boxing champion Jack Johnson, who was known as a thug. On December 28, 1908, Johnson whooped Tommy Burns in the World Boxing Championship in Sydney, Australia. About a year and a half later, Johnson defended his title when he defeated James "Great White Hope" Jefferies on July 4, 1910 setting off mobs of white racists to look for black blood, because their dream of white superiority was being chipped away at in a real physical way. In 1912, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act by transporting his white wife across state lines before they were married. He was sentenced to a year in prison. While out on appeal, he jumped bail. Pretending to be a member of a Negro League Team, he escaped to Canada and later Europe. He was on the run for 7seven years before he came back to America to face his legal lynching. Another thing that I have always liked and continue to like about Mos is that he makes good sounding music with a message. You can tell that he thinks about what he wants to say and how he wants to present what he puts out there. Overall I would nominate the New Danger as one of the best albums of the year. Click Here to hear an exclusive Mos Def interview by JR, courtesy of "The Block Report Radio Show" and Prisoners of Conscience Committee Radio (POCC Radio)"

Article tags: Review, Audio, Interview, Mos, Def's, New, Danger 

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