MEL D. COLE from VillageSlum on the lens
I really assed out this week. My late night at the SlaughterHouse studio session had me get back home at 4am and I knew I couldn’t go in hardbody back to back and still function at the day job without nodding off like a junkie. So I missed the Roots weekly jam session in order to keep the lights on in the lab. Of course this would be the week that one of my favorite emcees would fall through the Highline.
The mighty Mos Def is one of a handful of emcees that I travel to see with no reservation. He performs at a consistently high level even when he is singing shit that none of us understand. I appreciate that Mos has the courage to challenge his audience. He doesn’t allow himself to be put in a box as an entertainer or even as a man. Just when you think you have him figured out he shows you another facet of his talents.
We are the children of Public Enemy. Mos Def is my big brother.
^ I’d like to think that in Mos mind he is saying STFU!
There are a few tracks on this album produced by someone named Preservation. These joints knock and they don’t sound half baked. Listen to the bassline of this track ‘Casa Bey’. That shit is flying aorund like a convertible on a summer Sunday afternoon. It’s smooth and jazzy while the percussion keeps its soul right on the ground. I heard that Mos did this song with the Roots at the Highline Ballroom. Please kill me in my face.
Hip-Hop is alive!
This is a track called Revelation. I have been bumping this joint from the first spin I heard of this album. How dope is this beat? MadLib was on the boards for this one. I feel like I am hearing shots at the race baiter Bill Maher in Mos’ lyrics. Maybe that is just my mind projecting. I hope not. Fuck Bill Maher! [ll].
The mighty mighty Mos
Now its time to move our asses. This song needs to be the summer ’09 double dutch anthem. Music that makes you move your body and your mind at the same time is what comes from up above. Preservation made some dope tracks on this album. I’m going to look for him from now on. I don’t tell you good folks how to spend your bucks and I know you work hard for them, but I am telling you to support this artist with this album. You won’t be disappointed either especially with the track produced by Preservation featuring Slick Rick.
