Renaissance Man? | Mos Def may be good at everything, but who’s he really trying to please?
Mos Def
Feb 16. Edmonton Events Centre (WEM). Tickets: $52.45-$62.95, available through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.ca/451-8000).
There’s a new generation of rappers who share Jay-Z’s mantra: they don’t claim to be rappers, but hustlers who just happen to rap. Their ability to make music is almost secondary to their entrepreneurial muscle—it’s as if we’re only getting music from rappers like Young Jeezy and Rick Ross because they know there’s money to be made.
While the “hustler first, rapper second” label might fit a little loose in the shoulders for Dante Smith (better known as Mos Def), these days he’s better known for his roles in films like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the upcoming Be Kind Rewind than for his music.
SEE writers Renato Pagnani and Matthew Halliday discuss the man, the music, the movies, and the future.
RENATO PAGNANI: People talk about rappers falling off all the time, and perhaps no rapper in the last few years is a better example of this phenomenon than Mos Def, who’s gone from “greatest of all time” hype to recording—and this is perhaps being too kind—mediocre, bush-league rap. How does that happen? This is a rapper who once made rapping about the water table (“New World Water,” from Def’s classic debut Black on Both Sides) sound cool!
MATTHEW HALLIDAY: Put simply, I’ve got no freakin’ idea. Black on Both Sides killed me too, and let’s not forget Black Star, the collaborative album he recorded with Talib Kweli in ’98. Seriously, if you’d told me then that in 2008, Kweli would have the better career, I wouldn’t have believed you. But it’s true: in 2006, Kweli released Liberation online, for free. That freebie record was infinitely better than Def’s abysmal True Magic, released that same year. True Magic’s tossed-together sound (and look, with album art reminiscent of a hastily burned CD-R) seemed to confirm that Mos just wasn’t interested in music anymore. Or am I being too quick to judge?
RP: I’m afraid the evidence is stacked against the (not so) mighty Mos Def. Listen to the songs he’s been on lately: Benny Blanco’s mix of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” finds Mos mumbling incoherently for a cursory eight bars before he disappears and returns to whatever he does when he’s not making pointless cameos in Will Ferrell movies. But then, there’s something like “Drunk and Hot Girls,” from Kanye’s latest disc, Graduation. Mos doesn’t rap on it—he sings, and it’s the most charismatic and touching thing the man’s recorded in years. Yet most people automatically dismissed his part on that song because he wasn’t rapping!
MH: Mos has always been a pretty convincing singer. There’s something in his voice that just breaks that barrier between artist and audience—when he’s trying, that is. Shame he doesn’t bother much anymore—I guess we’re both in agreement on that. I guess the big question in advance of his show at the Event Centre is: can he still bring it live?
RP: I think he can. His recent studio output may be underwhelming, but performing is a completely separate thing. And Mos has always been considered a strong live artist, which is why I think he’s been one of the few rappers whose critical acclaim continued even after he crossed over into film. He’s always struck me as a renaissance man of sorts, one of those really bright kids who happened to be good at everything they tried. But it does make one wonder if all these talented rappers are just using rap as a stepping stone—why does every artist who’s found commercial success seem to have a need to “transcend” the rapper label?
MH: Mos Def an overachiever? Well, he does have have, like, five kids right? I’m sure Hollywood movies are a more lucrative way to pony up the child support than music. (Witness his child support troubles a couple of years ago.) I’ve been reading reviews of some of his live shows over the past couple years, and they’re mixed. In 2004, Pitchfork Media said that his live show was basically “showboating to a CD track.” But then, Chartattack.com said a 2005 gig in Toronto was “infinitely satisfying.” So who knows?
RP: We don’t know. But Mos seemed pretty amped to be performing in the documentary/concert film Dave Chappelle’s Block Party a couple years ago, and Talib Kweli has been claiming that he and Mos will reunite for another Black Star album for some time now. Maybe that’s just what Mos needs to break out of his funk.
MH: Maybe. The Black Star concerts they’ve performed together have been well-received. Look, there’s no question that Mos is a talented guy. I guess he’s just figuring out where his talent lies. His recent Broadway turn in the Pulitzer prize-winning Topdog/Underdog earned rave reviews, and what does he really owe us? He gave us a couple of brilliant records, and pop music legacies have been built on less than that. Let’s just say his show has the potential to be the most exciting—or most disappointing—hip-hop show of the year. We’ll know soon enough.
