![]() ![]() “An LP that may just save hip hop” Dazed & Confused “Incisive and inspirational… it all adds up to Mos Def’s best album for a decade” 4/5 Mixmag “An innovative return to form” 8/10 Clash “Def’s best album since 99’s Black on Both Sides” 4/5 FHM “ The Ecstatic is simply terrific… a stunning return to music” Word “Mos Def can still create the year’s finest hip hop album” 4/5 Uncut “Exhilarating listening… Hollywood’s loss is, it seems, hip-hop’s gain” 4/5 Q “It’s in this record’s studied self-absorption that its excellence both hides and resides” 4/5 Mojo “Improbably impeccable fifth album… it offers a thrillingly accessible demonstration of hip-hop’s limitless creative possibilities” 4/5 Observer Music Monthly With an all-star lineup including pop-funk star Mayda Miller on bass, Black Blondie's Tasha Baron on keys and veteran jazz drummer Kevin Washington, Wright pushed his new group through an innovative blend of reggae, dub and electronic styles that eschewed the usual live-band mold in hip-hop.“Mos Def is back on form… the album flows beautifully from beginning to end” 4.5/5 Echoes ‘Album of the Month’ He's still Toki, but instead of just rapping, he's a bona-fide bandleader now. Local rapper Toki Wright, who has long been a thought-provoking MC of the Mos Def ilk, opened the show carrying his own new identity. There's no way to act your way through those kinds of skills. He's one rapper who sounds as impressive performing a cappella - which he did several times Monday - as he does in full boom, so the acoustics were just a small hitch. Luckily, the acoustics couldn't hide the main attraction: Bey's MC-ing talent. While Bey had all the charisma and drama befitting the Guthrie's Wurtele Thrust Stage, the theater's tinny sound system was not up to par for his two-DJ sonic output. The slow-simmering peace mantra "Umi Says" followed, with a few dozen fans invited on stage - much to the dismay of the visibly aghast Guthrie staffers - to help sing the chorus, "Shine your light on the world." Now that was ingenious music. Just when he stretched the show to its weirdest, though, Bey brought it back rubber-band-style with a straight-ahead old favorite, "Hip-Hop," from his 1999 solo debut. (The song's hook, "I'm always horny," didn't exactly support his claim.) "But my dumb is so dumb, it's ingenious," he cracked. He introduced one of the newbies by admitting he'd be "going dumb" in it. The middle of the set was thick with new tracks, several of which came off as quizzically peculiar as his name change. He then masterfully slowed things down and amped up his sharp-tongued flow in the sarcastically titled, spiteful "Life in Marvelous Times." ![]() Not a lot, thankfully.īey, 38, dedicated the first half-hour of his set to his last Mos Def album, 2009's "The Ecstatic." Basking under red stage lights that matched the shade of the record's cover art - the stage would stay red for the duration of the 75-minute set - he offered up ecstatic dance moves to the funkiest of those tunes, including "Pretty Dancer" and "Casa Bey." ![]() He officially adopted Yasiin Bey as both his legal and stage name last year, leaving fans to wonder what else might be different about his act this time around. Def became the Guthrie's first-ever non-local rap headliner in 2010.īut Monday's concert was the New York hip-hop star's first time in town working under a new moniker. With his Broadway-approved and Emmy-nominated acting credentials no doubt helping him get his foot in the door, Mr. It was actually his second time at Minneapolis' thespian institution, too. The only rapper who'd be as likely to come to the Guthrie Theater for an acting role as he would for a music gig, the artist formerly known as Mos Def arrived for the latter reason Monday. ![]()
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