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Mos Def

bobbykokinos said:
He was supposed to be doing some cool stuff with his "rock" band Black Jack Johnson. But, I dont know if it ever got released..


Some of the tracks they did are on his new album. They're actually not too bad, a little rough, but had a lot of potential. It's a shame it fell apart. Unfortunately, their prescence kind of broke up the cohesion of the album and made it seem more scattered than it should have been. There are still a few worthwhile tracks and I, personally, would advise picking it up, especially if you can find it used/for a good price.

Mos has probably the best voice in hip-hop and his flow is unmatched, except perhaps by Thaione Davis.
 
I recall seeing a show or special on Mos Def on some channel years back and he was playing a bunch of different instruments but my opinion was he was not proficient on any of them. Just enough to be musical. This was years back though. Skills can improve over time but IMO, he ain't no pro bassist. Hell, I'm still trying to cop the cd Malcolm Jamal Warner did with his band Miles Long to see how good a player he is!
 
Mos Def is a great bassist!!< all you have to do is go get "Black on Both Sides", hes doing almost all the bass on that as well as producing and arranging. He has a really old mowtown feel to his playing AND some great bass riffs he uses Fender Jazzes and Precisions with flatwound strings. Mos has done studio bass for many hiphop artists and r&b artists. He did release some material on BlackJack Johnson but good luck in finding it. He's alsow worked with Head Fake as well.
 
I thought Black on Both Sides was pretty good, but man, he always seems to be best on a track with other people. I feel the same way about Talib Kweli.

Actually, I've always felt MD never made that classic album where he let's loose all of his lyrical skill and fury. It's always one good song here and there. Don't get me wrong...I think MD is indeed one of the best emcees that has been introduced. But it's like he never achieves the potential I wish he would, emcee-wise in a song. He's at his best when he gets aggressive on the mic.

At this point, I see him kinda going the way of Common Sense. Superb emcee, but is now currently caught up being a "neo soul artist" or something like that. Darn darn darn.

I want MD to come out full strength on a straight hip hop album like Del's "No Need For Alarm". I will be a proud MD fan when that happens. Until then, I'll keep talking about his old songs.

And yeah, it seems like the dude can act too...