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Mos wanted
By Brandon Martinez
bmart106@mscd.edu

Courtesy of Geffen.com The Mighty Mos plays the Fillmore, 1510 Clarkson St., Aug. 26, 8 p.m. with special guests Supergroup 3 featuring Dent, Distrakt and D.O. the Fabulous Drifter, and The Reminders. Tickets are $27.50. 16+

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but would a lyricist by any other name still rhyme as sweet? Mos Def, also known as The Black Dante, Dante Beze’, Bizet Dante, Flaco Bey and Dante Terrel Smith, has earned every alias he goes by.

Born and bred on the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mos Def is not only one of the finest lyricists in modern-day hip-hop, but is also one of Hollywood’s most promising young actors.

His die-hard fans are currently awaiting his next album, which is rumored to release in September under the title Tru3 Magic. As much as he has appeared on numerous other artists’ albums, his full-length albums remain strikingly profound.

Mos Def’s debut album, Black On Both Sides, was written and produced almost entirely by himself, showcasing his lyrical talent. His rhyme scheme is pure velocity. Hitting with metaphoric writing, large vocabulary and real-world situations, he presents a well-conditioned flow.

As mentioned, Mos Def also has many envied collaborations on his resume. One such is the amazingly innovative song “Two Words” on Kanye West’s The College Dropout. Each bar in this track is only two words long, making it increasingly difficult to rhyme with the previous line.

Mos Def’s most tantalizing collaboration to date has to be the Black Star album, featuring his Brooklyn emcee partner-in-crime Talib Kweli. The content and the way they play off each other’s lyrical genius makes the record effortlessly amazing.

His sophomore album, The New Danger, is better than the first. Sounding nothing like his first release lyrically and adding Kanye West’s beat-making ability didn’t hurt at all. Danger also gave him the chance to introduce his rock and roll band, Black Jack Johnson.

Seeking to take rock music back to the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Otis Redding, he bashes the rap-rock era and denies the worth of such bands as Limp Bizkit and Korn. Employing an all-star cast of black rock and roll legends gives Black Jack Johnson vindication.

Black Jack Johnson features Will Calhoun on drums and Doug Winbush on bass, both from the all-black rock band Living Colour, comprising the rhythm section. Parliament Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell and Bad Brains guitarist Doctor Know fill in the rest. Black Jack Johnson preaches that the soul has been stolen from black music and made popular by Anglo pioneers like Elvis Presley.

As much as he’s an innovator, Mos continues to rap with absolute precision. With intricate rhymes and deep meanings, he touches on the New York style and creates an offshoot in which he stands alone.