Mos Def

It’s hard not to go past one of the coolest cats to ever have walked this great planet of ours. I’m seriously not kidding. I think if there was a music apocalypse and you were looking for someone who was cool under pressure to stand up and take the reigns, I’d put my vote in for this dude.

Not everyone has a vested interest in Hip Hop, but if you are anyway inclined to open your horizons and your wondering ‘who should i listen to?’, please do yourself a favour and make some time for Mos Def. Now calling himself ‘Yasiin Bey’ he is old school Hip Hop and has the wonderful ability to leave the bullshit ego and bling behind him. Regardless of his name, there is a warmth and gentleness about him that allows his lyrics to do all the talking. But like a lot of people who have taken his music to heart, its the part of him that is more than his natural laid back self that speaks volumes.

In Yasiin’s case, it’s his crafting of lyrics and his subsequent ability to deliver them in a way that leaves the listener feeling like their best friend just told them something really insightful…in a really melodic way. [If only all our insights could come in the form of music]. Like many cases of great musicians, the addition of a high level of intelligence makes for a whole new level of connection. And with that connection comes an awareness of something larger than themselves. Their community, city or even planet become subject matter for them to rhyme.

There seems to have always been a real definition between musicians being political for ego reasons and those who have a real purpose to create legit change. It’s the same feeling you get when you can pick a fake from the real deal and Yasiin is the real fucking deal….the realest of all deals maybe. I think the defining attribute is his ability to be humble.

You may actually know him from somewhere aside from his music career.

He began his music life in 1994 with a group called UTD with two of his younger siblings, but it wasn’t until 96′ when he began working with De La Soul and a few other groups before releasing his first single in 97′.Signing with a new label, he then tamed up with long time collaborator Talib Kweli to create the landmark album ‘Black Star’. I mean, it was called ‘Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star’….but I just know it as Black Star. It was the first time the larger global audience was introduced to Def’s powerful, poignant & catchy style.

Now this is where I may have had disagreements with Johnny about what is Def’s best album. If you spend any time with him, you’ll find him very persuasive. He has a natural enthusiasm about most things that he has an interest in, and arguing about the best album from an early influence of his is something you really need to be up for.

He has said to me more than once that Mos Def’s first Studio album after the initial exposure of the Black Star collaboration ‘Black On Both Sides’ is Most Def [not the first time that has been used] his favourite and the one he thinks will remain his best. But I have to disagree. Half because I love disagreeing with my beautiful brother and half because I’m right.

I really came to Mos Def’s music way after all of these albums had been released. I maybe even didn’t have a decent sit down with his music until the late 00’s. By this stage he’d released another two studio albums and was well and truly becoming a household name. At least in Hip Hop circles.

But I regress, I began talking about how you may know him from somewhere other than his groundbreaking Hip Hop career, and if you’ve never been into this scene, you may know him from his other creative outlet. Acting.

Since 1988, he has been appearing in films and TV, but maybe nothing you’d know until maybe you might have seen him in the 2003 version of ‘The Italian Job’ with Mark Wahlberg. He’d done heaps before that, but aside from cameos in some NYBD Blue or Spin City episodes, they’d all seemed fairly unremarkable. But for those nerdy fantasy sci fi lovers out there, it was his role in the 2005 ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ that I think really cemented him as a contender in both the music and film industries.

I will admit that I friggen love that version of the film. I think that maybe I love it as much as I do because he’s in it. And he’s absolutely perfect….or should I say Prefect? Either way, his charisma is his super power and it comes across in both audio and visual mediums.

This is the stage of the review that I get to do a crossover to a quirky little film that we’ve done a write up about a 2008 film called ‘Be Kind Rewind’. I haven’t seen all of the films Mos Def has been in. But anytime you get to be in a Michel Gondry film, you should most probably do it. And this one is no exception. At the same time, not a heap of people know it. Partnering Jack Black, you get to see him in full flight and how his naturally humble nature can be bottled and used brilliantly.

But at the end of the day, it’s his music that has influenced more people than most. Even reviving some classic standards on the Soundtrack to Be Kind, Rewind’ along with Jean-Michel Bernard, you can tell that he brings a touch of quality and style to most everything he does. I think that this is what I love about hime the most. That he has an impeccable sense of style that transcends most everything he does. It’s like he’s found a groove and just stayed there, explored it, stayed a little longer and then begun to see how far that groove can stretch, and as any decent creative knows, it can stretch a very long way if you know how not to break it.

Even though I didn’t really listen much to him in his early years, I began to invite him in more and more as I got older and probably opened myself up more and more. There was an album that he released around 2009 called ‘The Ecstatic’ that I played to death, and technically is probably the one that I know the most. But time and time again I remember that these reviews are not bound by any pretend commitment or obligation of clarifying a favourite to be bound by specific criteria. Sometimes they are favourites for no other reason apart from being the one you would pick to play if you could hypothetically only choose one. For me, Black Star is that album.

Track No.2, ‘Astronomy (8th Light) and No.12, Thieves in the Night’ are my favourites. They just showcase the albums easy nature and how fucking cool these boys were back in 98′ when they began. I think a first album says a lot about an artist and for Mos Def, I think it shows his quality from the beginning.

Funnily enough it was little memories of interactions with the most unlikeliest of people that also had me begin listening to this album to begin with. Apart from Johnny’s natural influence, I found myself at a poker game in the early 00’s sitting next to N’fa from 1200 Techniques and naturally talking music, he said that there were two albums that he absolutely recommended. The first one I can’t remember [N’fa, if you’re out there, hit me up. I’d love to remember what that was] But the second, and the one he was most adamant about was Black Star from Mos Def  & Talib Kwali. Needless to say I took his advice and here I sit a good 15 years later writing about it.

I well and truly know that Hip Hop isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve said that heaps over the years. But sometimes you see through the persona of a musical artist. Sometimes they show you more. More to identify with. More to relate to, which in turn gives you more to relate to their music with. In the case of Mos Def, he seemed to be someone who was really easy to see. Maybe this is why he comes across as so humble. Because he is just doin his thing and doesn’t find the need to play the facade game.

I’d like to be more like this in a few areas of my life. Maybe thats why I look at him as someone I admire. Maybe this is why I want him to be my spirit animal. Because apart from appearing more genuine than the majority of public figures out there, he knows what to show and what to keep hidden. And therein lies his power….as well as being cool as fuck.

…and the dude can dress!

M /