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Hip-Hop

New Music: Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times

Mos Def - Life in Marvelous Times (snippet)

I’m glad to see Mos Def back in the studio with new music, even though I couldn’t blame him if he took up acting full time. Mos has had a troubled career of late–Tru Magic never really got the proper release it deserved, and The New Danger was universally panned. However his new album, The Ecstatic, seems like a return to form, with the Madlib produced Auditorium and the lead single, Life In Marvelous Times, bringing back that boom-bap feel that had everybody running to the record store when Black on Both Sides came out.

Life in Marvelous Times premieres on iTunes on Election Day, November 4th. The album is supposed to drop in December, however the tracklisting is so far a secret. Hopefully, this album won’t get pushed back/shelved this time around, but I’m not holding my breath until I see an official video.

Tags: Mos Def

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Hip-Hop

Review: Mos Def at the Kennedy Center

Mos Def is one of hip-hop’s most preeminent artists, and quite frankly, one of the few artists from the genre that could command the stage at the world renowned Kennedy Center. Last Sunday, he took the stage, fronting a 22 piece orchestra in a new project called Amino Alkaline–The Watermelon Syndicate.

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first–the sound was terrible. I was actually surprised that a concert hall as illustrious as the Kennedy Center would have such bad acoustics. During the whole show, I thought that I was the only one who couldn’t hear a word that Mos was saying, but as I found out during conversation on the Metro with some concert goers after the whow, the general consensus was that the sound was bad–everywhere.

Secondly, the whole show had no focus. What was billed as a Mos Def tribute to jazz and hip-hop ended up being Mos running through songs in a random order with no real cohesion or center. The night consisted of Mos running through songs with some non-specific rambling in the middle–or maybe he did try to tie the songs together? I couldn’t hear him anyways.

The negatives, however, could not bring down what was an incredible performance. The band, fronted by keyboardist Robert Glasper, with horns by Marcus Strickland, and a string quartet of young women known as the NYC Woman’s String Ensemble, is one of the most diverse hip-hop outfits ever envisioned. Even if the playlist was as random as my iPod, it did not disappoint–Mos and his band went through a variety of songs, including Bel Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” Issac Hayes’s “Walk On By,” Chris Dave’s “Saturday Night Dance” and a new song–the Madlib produced “Auditorium,” from Mos Def’s upcoming album The Ecstatic.

Being that this was DC, the evening started off with Petey Green’s “How to eat a Watermelon” video, as well as a rendition of the go-go joint “Sardines” juxtaposed with the Star Spangled Banner. The latter track featured Mos simply repeated the lines “And the bombs bursting in air” over and over again in a fashion that played well to the audience–but would look like the ramblings of a mental patient if he wasn’t on stage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Kennedy Center, Mos Def

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Upcoming DC Shows: Mos Def, Chromeo, Kool Keith, Clipse, Wale

Wow, the line-up of shows for September and October in this city is going to be insane. Mos Def is going to be in town this weekend at the Kennedy Center (don’t get mad if you didn’t buy tickets–I warned y’all) doing his rendition of hip-hop and jazz classics. Should be tight. Phonte rolls through Busboys and Poets on Monday night and Raphael Saadiq comes BACK to Black Cat for MN8’s 7th Anniversary celebration on the 25th.

October is going to be insane. Girl Talk, Chromeo, and Hot Chip take over 9:30 Club and my homegirl Lykke Li takes on the Black Cat on the 19th.

Much thanks to Lady Glock for helping compile the list.

Sept 21st - Mos Def at the Kennedy Center (Sold Out)

Sept 22nd - Phonte of Little Brother and Zo! Q&A - Busboys and Poets

Sept 22nd - Upset The Setup Presents: Band In DC feat Ras Lidj & Deep Band and Godisheus - Velvet Lounge

Sept 25th - Clipse feat Wale, Consequence and Southeast Slim - University of Maryland

Sept 26th - The Chavy Boys of London (Scottie B, Shawn Caesar, King Tutt), Will Eastman, Gavin Holland, Dj Stereofaith - Rock and Roll Hotel

Sept 28th - Raphael Saadiq - The Black Cat

Oct 2 - Ratatat - Black Cat (Sold Out)

Oct 3 - Kool Keith - 9:30 Club

Oct 4 - Chromeo - 9:30 Club

Oct 8 - Hot Chip - 9:30 Club

Oct 9 - Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Black Cat

Oct 10 - Girl Talk - 9:30 Club (Sold Out)

Oct 15 - Janet Jackson - Verizon Center

Oct 19 - Lykke Li - Black Cat

Oct 20 - Talib Kweli, David Banner and B.O.B. - 9:30 Club

Oct 26 - Little Brother - Black Cat

BONUS:

Nov 1 - Murs and Kidz In the Hall - Rock and Roll Hotel

Tags: Girl Talk, Mos Def, Phonte, Raphael Saadiq

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Hip-Hop

Rock The Bells Recap

Tags: A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Rock The Bells

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