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Mos Def’s fourth and newest solo album, The Ecstatic, shows quite a change of pace for him, but it also shows a great amount of growth and creativity. His last two albums haven’t done very well, but this one is well worth the wait. There are still a few songs that maintain his older rapping style, but there is a lot more variation even within each song in the album. Mos Def crosses cultures and even languages with the Spanish song, “No Hay De Hada Mas” while “Wahid” features the style of Muslim music. “Casa Bay” has popping background music using xylophones, that brings out a light and bubbly tone.

The album’s cultural and social relevance is shown through majority of the songs. The intro to the CD, features a speech by Malcolm X, fighting for change and equality regardless of differences, which is a theme Mos Def maintains on the album. “The Embasy” takes you in to the song with a snake charmer like trance. The song speaks of our terrorist consciousness and thus our more violent world. “History” features Talib Kweil and is really about living in the moment. “Priority” is probably Mos Def’s most thought provoking track on the CD, displaying the importance of the essentials in life. In this song he hits on peace, God, belief, family, and really just being thankful for life and all that it entails. “Life in Marvelous Times” sounds more like street rap, singing about hardships on streets as well as in the world. It’s accompanied by low horns, making each beat and line more intense. By expanding the territory, it becomes a song against violence and hate.

“Roses” features the soulful singing style of Georgia Anne Muldrow mixed with Mos Def’s casual singing . As the pace of the beat is continually increased more and more, the two opposing vocals come together to merge quite smoothly. The lyrics hit on beauty and art being an abstract thing not simply defined. “Super Magic” is definitely the most energized and feel good song, thus it is a great way to start out The Ecstatic. Mos Def raps, but with a very charismatic and light tone. Half of the lyrics in this track are actually gibberish and self-invented words, but there is no confusion as the feel and emotion is clearly communicated and shared. There are moments where “Super Magic” hits on a reggae sound, which “Pistola” definitely follows as well. “Workers Comp.” includes Mos Def’s sensual singing to wholesome raps about tough times in life and work, specific to our economic troubles. It shows a search for meaning, love, and survival.

Mos Def’s The Ecstatic contains a wide variety of sounds and styles of the music, using many different cultures as influences in bringing out the focus on both hardships and the beauty of life in a very universal sense. The album brings a great balance to the hip hop genre, which should be taken note of since many artists today fail to do this. Mos Def doesn’t disregard his past, but stays away from commercialized raps about flashy and superficial topics that are all too prevalent in many songs in the genre today. It’s the hardships, struggles, and brutality that make the album feel so real and true to life. Yet at the same time, this makes his hope for the prevalence of the joyous things in life all the more refreshing. Mos Def fans will be able to find something you like in the more rap and street based songs, while non-fans should find plenty to enjoy among the exotic, fun, yet meaningful songs on the album.

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