Mos Def - Black On Both Sides (October 12, 1999)

He may be best known as an actor today, starring in films like Be Kind Rewind (which was not a very good movie at all, although I will concede that the overall message was touching, and the 'Sweded' films were mostly pretty funny), but there was once a time when Dante Smith, pornographically known as Mos Def, was focused on his music. The year 1999 was such a time, as Mos found himself riding a wave of critical (if not commercial) success, triggered by his Black Star collaborative effort with fellow hip hop stalwart Talib Kweli, creatively titled Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, probably because some rock group had already taken the Black Star name (the same thing happened to failed rap supergroup The Firm). Around this time, Rawkus Records decided to invest some money into Mos and Kweli individually: Kweli went back to his friend, producer Hi-Tek, to put together a project for their duo, Reflection Eternal, while Mos Def decided to go for dolo.

Black On Both Sides is the final product. Although Mos Def had recorded songs prior to the Black Star project (and was even part of a group or two that released albums independently), this was his first solo album where he could do whatever he wanted, musically, and he took advantage of his situation by delivering an album that can only be classified as "mostly hip-hop". He appealed to both the underground and the mainstream by securing representatives from both parties to make contributions, and even decided to sing on more than a few tracks (fans of the Black Star album won't be surprised by that last statement). Rawkus was so delighted with the finished disc that they built a marketing campaign around the release of both Mos Def's album and the debut solo disc from Organized Konfusion's Pharoahe Monch, Internal Affairs, which were released a week apart.

Black On Both Sides sold well enough to earn a gold plaque from the RIAA, and even scored some airplay on MTV. The critics were kind, for the most part, but Mos Def would soon move on to Hollywood, and now only seems to focus on musical appearances of the cameo nature; his own solo albums are only sporadically released, and the fans that Black On Both Sides earned him seem to be slipping out of his grasp as each year passes.

At least there's always "Drunk & Hot Girls".

1. FEAR NOT OF MAN
Mos Def samples Fela Kuti's "Fear Not For Man" for a rap album intro that's about four minutes too long. He does spit a short verse toward the end, though.

2. HIP HOP
I would have selected something, I don't know, better as the first real song on my debut album, regardless if Diamond D had a hand in its production. But that's just me.

3. LOVE
Meh.

4. MS. FAT BOOTY
I've always kind of liked this Ayatollah-produced song, possibly because I remember the girl in its accompanying video being pretty cute, but I haven't seen the video in several years, so I may be mixing up my video chicks. Mos also recorded a sequel featuring, of all people, Ghostface Killah: sadly, that song isn't that great.

5. SPEED LAW
I remember liking this back in the day, but listening to it today, it's actually very dull. Maybe some speed would help my attention span a little, but I doubt it.

6. DO IT NOW (FEAT BUSTA RHYMES)
I always thought it weird that Busta Rhymes made it a point to appear on both Mos Def's and Pharoahe Monch's respective debut albums, especially since they were marketed together. I guess he thought he was doing these two underground artists a favor. Well, it worked for Pharoahe, but not so much for The Cosby Mysteries's Mos Def.

7. GOT
The Mos Def "A Tribe Called Quest" song, which is what I call this Ali-Shaheed Muhammad track. It's not as good as early Tribe material, but it sounds a bit better than the songs produced exclusively by The Ummah. All in all, I'm conflicted.

8. UMI SAYS
I like this song, since I usually like Mos Def's singing. However, I'm suddenly compelled to buy some Nikes.

9. NEW WORLD WATER
Psycho Les (of The Beatnuts) provides a hot beat, which Mos uses to rhyme about water. Seriously. There's only a hint of metaphor here, but don't let that deter you: this song is pretty great.

10. ROCK N ROLL
I never liked this song, but that might just be because they sequenced this Psycho Les-produced track right after the far-superior, also-Psycho Les-produced "New World Water", so it never had a chance. Especially where it is most important: my heart.

11. KNOW THAT (FEAT TALIB KWELI)
Whenever anyone picks up a Mos Def or Talib Kweli solo project, they look for the collaborative song between the two that inevitably appears. Why is that, you ask? Most will say it's because of their chemistry on the Black Star project, but the true followers of Dante Smith know that it's because of "Know That". One listen to this indisputable banger will put you on the right path.

12. CLIMB (FEAT VINIA MOJICA)
Really? You're going to follow a great fucking track like "Know That" with this crap? You're kidding, right?

13. BROOKLYN
Mos's hometown tribute is a three-piece composition with different instrumental backing for each component. The first movement is passable, but the song really picks up steam when the second beat kicks in, followed by a third verse which is accompanied by a straight-up beat-jacking of The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Who Shot Ya?". The original version of this song, which is easily found on the Interweb, actually showcases the Mos Def verses set to the aforementioned "Who Shot Ya?", along with Raekwon's "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and Mobb Deep's "Give Up The Goods (Just Step)", all of which are great song choices, but were never cleared for the final album.

14. HABITAT
Not a very memorable track.

15. MR. N---A (FEAT Q-TIP)
From the Nicolas Cage film of the same name.

16. MATHEMATICS
DJ Premier has a reputation for making anyone sound good over his instrumentals, and he doesn't fail Mos Def here, but overall thisong is only average. Not that Mos can't rap; far from it. It's just that Dante sounds better over more organic hip hop beats than Primo is known for.

17. MAY-DECEMBER
A very nice instrumental composition to show us to the exit.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Black On Both Sides is a decent enough debut for someone once heralded as the next big thing in hip hop. Unlike some rappers, Mos Def usually has something to say, and an effective way of saying it, but most of the beats provided for our listening pleasure here are not as good as you would hope. Overall, not bad, but clearly not great.

BUY OR BURN? Go ahead and burn the damn thing. It's not bad enough to avoid completely, but not good enough to spend more than five minutes looking for it.

BEST TRACKS: "Know That"; "May-December"; "New World Water"; "Umi Says"

-Max

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