""You're living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution / A time where there's got to be a change,"" begins The Ecstatic. An intro featuring Malcolm X speaking at Oxford University finds Mos Def comfortable in his pre-established niche as a socially conscious rapper educated enough to rep with both hard and soft intellectuals.
From Black Star to Black on Both Sides, Mos consistently provoked more thought than dance parties. However, after Malcolm X fades to silence, a swirl of ambience leads into a searing guitar sample. From here on out, The Ecstatic still finds Mos Def in his comfort zone, only he takes a back seat to the vivid world surrounding him, letting the collateral damage of his exploding production strike all corners of creativity.
""Wahid"" finds Mos Def backing strings that swirl around dense opening stanzas of relentless rhymes. ""No Hay Nada Mas"" flexes foreign muscle as Mos' laid-back delivery blends together smooth Spanish. ""Worker's Comp."" delivers reggae-inflected rhythms with contemporary orchestration, only to be followed by the anxious marimbas foreshadowing war on ""Revelations.""
The production wanders from one distinct landscape to the next at a clip that doesn't let the listener, nor Mos, grow comfortable in any one place. From Middle Eastern to African instrumentation, urban to Central American lyricisms, Mos Def guides a ride through rap culture many touch on, but not many can encapsulate, in 45 minutes and 16 songs.
If we're lucky, Malcolm X's quote will foreshadow an ambitious hip-hop revival that will mean no more scouring digital depths for genuine, meaningful hip-hop. Either way, Mos' outburst of ingenuity on The Ecstatic provides guidance for those ambitious enough to continue to believe in hip-hop.
