Word: mos
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Three acts--the Roots, Q-Tip and Mos Def--are at the front of hip-hop's new movement. All three have recently come out with accomplished albums. And all three are creating hip-hop that's more personal, political and spiritual than the bulk of what passes for Top-40 rap today. These are young acts but experienced: Q-Tip, 29, is a former member of A Tribe Called Quest and is releasing his first solo effort. Mos Def, 25, has performed with Talib Kweli as the duo Black Star. And the Roots has five albums under its belt...
...Black on Both Sides (Rawkus), Mos Def's cultural concerns reveal themselves in every number. The opener, Fear Not of Man, delivers a manifesto: "We are hip-hop. Me, you, everybody... So the next time you ask where hip-hop is going, ask yourself: Where am I going?" On the song Mr. Nigga, Mos Def raps along with Q-Tip about the myriad indignities faced by young blacks at the hands of policemen, waiters and others, even when the young black men in question are rich and successful. "Even if it's never said and lips stay sealed," he raps...
There are also those who question whether deejay culture is being homogenized by merging with rock. DJ Premier has been busy of late: he collaborated with Limp Bizkit, he provided scratching on Lilith Fair veteran Paula Cole's new album and he worked on rapper Mos Def's brilliant new CD, Black on Both Sides (Rawkus). It's a sign of how divided feelings are that, on his album, Mos Def takes a lyrical swipe at hip-hop tinged rock-pop acts, including one his producer DJ Premier worked with, Limp Bizkit. "I ain't tryin' to slow your groove...
...later joked that when he eventually got his hands on the script, security was so tight that Darth Vader himself was standing guard outside the room. (Neeson was, of course, well-paid for his enforced ignorance.) You probably know about the sandstorm in Tunisia that demolished most of the Mos Espa spaceport set when location shooting was only half-finished...
...feds / plus I always did what I said / I was gonna do / talk sh*t right in front of you / never forfeit, on top / we do it non-stop, with more jewels than a pawn shop." The rhymes just stack up one on top of the other, as brother Mos Def said...