![]() Spilling over with pride and defiance, The Ecstatic is a reminder of more renegade days, being practically a manifesto from someone who recently declared: "Extended exposure to commercial rap has got to have some kind of negative effect on you" and: "Reckless capitalism kills black people." The orthodox rap album has been sliding towards irrelevance for much of this decade, a victim of its main practitioners' transformation into the new pop aristocracy. He's also performed an even greater feat in extracting what might be the last signs of life from a moribund format. Whether in terms of the sound, an elastic funk-soul hybrid sprinkled with exotic samples, or the subject matter, which takes in Iraq and the ups and downs of foreign travel, Smith is no longer someone who did his best work a decade ago. The Ecstatic recaptures the restlessness of old. ![]() Remember Martin Freeman's zany sidekick Ford Prefect in the ropey film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? That's him. Then there's the exasperating acting career. Frustratingly, he was quickly back under the radar, knocking out half-hearted solo projects that did a disservice to his fearless, multi-faceted solo debut, 1999's Black on Both Sides. He emerged in the late 90s with enormous potential, satisfying both hardcore fans and more sensitive souls who balked at rap's then omnipresent machismo. In contrast, Smith's more distinct reputation - as a thoughtful contrarian, a politically minded antidote to the superficial - has somehow survived his own apparent indifference to his talent. Most rappers overstate their talent, they have to - the rules of engagement dictate that careers can be built on force of will, whether there's also a deeper artistry involved (Jay-Z) or merely the sound of ringing cash tills (P Diddy). ![]() O ne of hip-hop's great anomalies, 35-year-old, Brooklyn-born Dante "Mos Def" Smith is an underachiever in a genre where status remains the chief yardstick. ![]()
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