MOS DEF

Personnel: Mos Def (rap vocals, piano, drums); Raphael Saadiq (guitar, bass guitar); Shuggie Otis (guitar); Paul Oscher, Minnesota.

Mos Def's mind and music both move as swiftly and exhaustively as his career, which has seen the Brooklyn, NY rapper form a rock band (Black Jack Johnson), star in movies, and flirt with Broadway, in addition to releasing a definitive hip-hop album in 1999's critically lauded BLACK ON BOTH SIDES. Nowhere is the far-reaching nature of Def's ever-percolating mind as clearly demonstrated as on 2004's genre-obliterating THE NEW DANGER.

While BLACK ON BOTH SIDES certainly played around with many different styles, THE NEW DANGER lays waste to any musical boundaries, shifting from rap to soul to blues to hard rock, as soothing grooves are blasted out of their slumber by the blistering assault of Black Jack Johnson. Mos Def's thoughts are positively overflowing as he plays musical provocateur on "The Rape Over," lifting the Kanye West beat of Jay-Z's "Takeover" for his own pointed attack on the music industry. Def also decries the state of the world on "War," and offers a roots-blues parable of his band's namesake boxer on "Blue Black Jack." In the middle of all this measured chaos lies "Sunshine," a wistful, sweet, and subtly powerful track, and a reminder of Mos Def's narrative-based lyrical prowess, never showy or flowery, but flush with purpose and soul.

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