Black on Both Sides
The Greatest hip hop album of all time
A thread

The year is 1999 and throughout the last decade the art of hip hop has developed into a global industry which captivated millions worldwide.

We’d Seen the rise of superstars like Pac and Big becoming the most iconic figures in hip hop and sadly the deaths of them alongside many legends.
With their deaths we also saw the east and west coast beef come to an end and it was declared by many that hip hop was dead

Around The same time after first appearing with guest verses for Dela soul and others a Young rapper who went by The name Mos Def began to make waves.

Finally releasing his debut album alongside Talib Kweli As they formed Black Star. The underground duo's debut record was brilliant as it combined socially relevant and introspective lyricism, with well executed,passionate and heartfelt storytelling.
An instant classic

With the success of Black Star Mos def remained a hot topic at the time and many people looked at him as the next East coast MC to take over.

After his success in 98 he returned releasing his highest charting track and lead single Ms Fat Booty. Rapping over a beautifully produced soul sample his vivid storytelling,charisma,wit and cheeky references an instant hit providing the perfect lead up to His solo debut

The title itself speaks volumes about the album as the raw photo of Mos Himself depicts not just who he is as a person but his entire identity. With this cover illustrating him as a flawed human being but also an african american, a rapper and somone who represents his culture

showing the listener his self pride and authenticity. The cover provides a view of his raw facial features very reminiscent of his african heritage.
Mos Isn’t afraid to be who he is and embraces his culture so emotionally not hiding anything.
Black On Both Sides

With the cover alone giving so much detail it helps the listener make an emotional connection with Mos and makes me feel as if i’m staring into his soul even before hearing the music.

Fear Not Of Man

The opening track Fear of Not man sets the theme for the entire album and puts us in the perspective of Mos before we’ve even begun listening which really makes the listener relate to the music.

Opening the entire album with the arabic phrase
“Bismillah ir Rahman ir Raheem”
Standing for “In the name of God,the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”

A line often used before the beginning of significant events in arabian countries.

We then see a hard hitting base sample kick in and Mos provides a spoken intro as he addresses the worlds fears of dramatic change as the 21st century approaches.

He reassures The listener we must not fear anything, that we should embrace change and that The spirit and culture of hip hop will never die.

“Fear Not of Men because Men must die mind over matter and Soul before Flesh”.
A Perfect intro to the album

Hip Hop
Continuing on the theme from the intro Hip hop takes a triumphant spin on embracing change with brilliant DJ Premier production. Hip hop not only celebrates His love for making music but the importance of the culture and how it has shaped Mos and his identity

Expressing how hip hop represents who he is as a person and shapes the life of many African Americans.
While he acknowledges progress must be made, the beauty of this track is how reflective it is on how hip hop has changed the life of many black people and given them power.

Reassuring it will continue to do so. With the hard hitting and repetitive line “from picking Cotton to Hip hoppin”
expressing how Hip hop Is everlasting and was the saviour for many who came before him.
Essential to survival in a white mans world

Love
On the track Love Mos tells a reflective and sentimental story on not just his journey and finding love himself but the events which lead him to come into this world. Talking about his parents' love that created him, to falling in love with hip hop.

love is such a powerful force.
Love joins us together, inspires us and can change the world. Such a personal and sentimental track with a message that will last forever.

Ms Fat Booty
The Single released for this album and His most popular track to this day Ms Fat booty was the most important song of his career. The soulful production continues to speak volumes about the album and how the production was ahead of its time.

rapping with so much charisma over a delicate soul sample with a track that perfectly adds to the theme from the previous one. Recounting a story of past romance that didn’t work out

a very nostalgic track as Mos reminisces on an important moment. However we see this woman ending up with another man as it teaches the important lesson of falling in and out of love as we see Mos trying not to get caught up in heartbreak.

Speed law
Delivering another near flawless rapping performance Mos gives such a commanding presence on the mic Providing a strong message to slow down and chill out.

The track is filled with witty wordplay and one of the more traditional beats. As He uses driving a car as an analogy to tell the listener sometimes we need to slow down an assess things in life before making stupid mistakes. Continuing to showcase a tremendous display of skill.

Do It Now, Ft Busta Rhymes
This track provides an inverse approach to the previous one continuing to show why this album is so great,because every track ties into each other in such a well written fashion.

Do it now is a call to action as both rappers bring so much energy to the mic.

Mos reminds everyone that a more balanced approach to life is important but you must push on at times and take risks. Busta and his unique delivery adds to this song perfectly with his undeniable energy on the mic. Such an uplifting and motivating track.

Got
This track again showcases how strong the messaging is throughout the album alongside how unique his style is which is what sets it apart from other albums. A very vulnerable track with a unique production style

we see Mos deliver a very deep verse about the need to be aware of things and how he notices things people don’t because of his upbringing. The term Got referring to how thieves can prey on people.

And the fact that people flexing your luxury can tempt the jealous making them inclined to steal or worse.

Got is a track which tells the message that not everyone is a bad person but things like jealousy and anger bring out the worst in our society. Deep down there are no bad people, just people who do bad things.

Umi Says
Such a beautiful and meaningful track where Mos delivers such a high quality vocal performance pouring every ounce of energy and so much passion into every line. “Umi referring to the arabic word for mother or father”.

A line which really stuck with me was how he kept repeating “tommorow may never come”. Really showing With Mos’s more spiritual side as he looks for hope in such an uncertain world

As if he’s talking to his god or religion about how he will shine light and positivity onto the world around him In search of distant ideals such as peace

we see not just a spiritual but personal awakening but such hard hitting lyrics
with the line “I ain’t no perfect man I’m tryna be the best that I can”.Expressing such vulnerability and self pride.

Seeing someone put as much heart into every moment as he did in this track makes it such an emotional and moving moment. Such a beautiful piece of music

New world Water
Another track with such a strong message and such introspective lyricism.
the song itself stands for so much it was almost impossible to interpret as it was speaking out about issues so far ahead of its time

Reflecting on how reliant our society is on water yet the amount of issues it can cause. This analysis was so far ahead of its time as we have seen many water storage crises throughout the U.S. across the last decade.

Overall while his intent with this song was somewhat broad it spoke volumes about the way we treat the environment around us and he really opened up his fears for the future and some of these fears even became a reality.

This track tells not just of his wisdom but how he was not afraid to speak up, he was here for a reason and almost felt that he must warn the world.

This track again showcases the vast range of production styles throughout this album as he pays tribute to rock and roll and how many legends before him shaped hip hop culture.

continues to switch up his delivery singing about his heritage and how the roots of Rock can be traced back to early african people Shouting out legends including Jimmy Hendrixx and Albert King.

Breaking into a chaotic Rock and Roll style by the end of the track repeatedly yelling the messages “who am I” and “rock and roll”.

With this song Mos pays tribute to the way Rock N Roll changed culture for african americans and shouts out Rock N Roll stars who he shares values with and have inspired him on his path today.
Rock N Roll is about not being stood down and always speaking your mind

Know That- Ft Talib Kweli
The strong chemistry is evident from the former duo as they continue on themes we’ve seen earlier on the album as well as on Black star.

With both Mos and Talib giving unique perspective with their verses showing faith in their people similar to what we saw on Fear not of man. Both put Faith in eachother and the rest of the modern world and continue to deliver well executed lyricism.

The Climb ft Vinia Mojica
Mos returns with his soulful singing in a duet with Vinia Mojica Continuing to deliver so much passion with his vocals as Vinia provided the contrast needed to really give a sonical appeal to this track.
Such a Dark yet beautiful song

begins with them testifying to the sentiment of hope and refusing to be stood over. With the continual theme of pride in yourself and being proud of who you are.

however the track takes a deep and dark turn. Being contrasted with those attempting to climb up trees when being lynched or hanged and almost shows him losing hope.

The conflicting images of climbing show the utmost display of faith among despair and suggest Mos opening himself up even more to faith in the hope of change despite not knowing whether the future will hold positive change or despair.

Brooklyn
A track which is an ode to his upbringing and the place that raised him. Mos raps over multiple iconic brooklyn hip hop beats and delivers 3 verses with such a unique perspective in each verse.

Firstly over a beat recreating Smif-N-Wessons Home sweet home he tells about the slums and his rough upbringing.

We then see a beat switch and over Roy Avers, We live in Brooklyn He goes even deeper into reflection and talks about the beauty of his home and his surroundings naming special areas to him throughout the burrough.

Lastly Mos delivers one of his snappiest and most impressive verses over Biggies iconic who shot ya beat.
As he shows off his unmatched wordplay and talks about how brooklyn is a cultural hub for hip hop even shouting out the late Biggie by the end of the song.

Such a beautiful and touching way to pay tribute to his home.

Habitat
Continuing to play tribute to his Brooklyn roots on habitat Mos reflects on the place he grew up in a more sentimental manner. However habitat is about more than just Brooklyn but about how Home is a feeling not just a place.

The line “it’s aint where you from it’s where you at” has such an important meaning and underlines the track so well. As the message is about no matter how nostalgic our home is, it's not the place that makes it feel like home but the people around us and the comfort associated.

Mos continues to shout out many places he loves across the world and raps about how anywhere can be a home If it brings you joy and comfort and that’s the beauty of life.

Mr N***a ft Q-Tip
Continuing to tie the album back into his own experiences as a black man in society, Mos and Q-tip both reflect on how despite fame and luxury a lot of society remains to see them as nothing more than a black man.

We see Mos reflecting on the constant assumptions society places on him and wherever he goes his success continues to be suspected and undermined by envious white men. With many examples including being kicked out of first class because of his colour

With such a telling message of how no matter the amount of success he achieves he will never escape his colour no matter how famous or wealthy he becomes.

Mathematics
Saving His best lyrical display and most hard hitting track for last He useless the concept of mathematics as an analogy to provide depth to Black on both sides social concept. Reflecting on how numbers provide such a deep insight into the inequality of the world.

Firstly we see him touch on how hip hop has given opportunities to voices that wouldn’t usually be heard and helped power the working class population. Then touching on how he puts his all into his music yet record industries continue to exploit artists with the line

“I’ve got 16 to 32 bars to rock it but only 15 percent of profit ever touches my pocket”.

In the next verse we see more and more hard hitting and dense bars with
The one that really sticks out being
“4 Mc’s murdered in 4 years i ain’t tryna be the next when the millennium is here”

obviously referring to all the legendary rappers lost throughout the last decade and how this is something that clearly plays heavily on his conscience.

He then shows you the other perspective referring to murderers as soldiers, people with no other choice as a result of society forced to kill as the aim is to stay alive at all costs.

Lastly The line “Why did the straw break the camel's back” sums up the entire message very well, when we live in a world with so much corruption and so many issues that plague our society

One little thing can bring the entire world to collapse which is the underlying concept of Mathematics as Mos tries to expose corruption

With the straw that broke the camel's back analogy also summing up his fears for the modern world in general as it could collapse at any time. Mathematics is a socially conscious and introspective masterpiece and one of the best displays of lyricism I’ve ever heard.

May-December
May-December is the calm after the storm,the soft and pleasing instrumental gives the listener time to digest the issues and how they fit into the world and shows His sense of future hope and calm despite all the issues.
A beautiful instrumental,a euphoric outro

Black on Both sides is more than Just a piece of music it's a story, the narrative of not just The life of Mos Def as a person but so much more

Black on Both sides is the best representation of hip hop as a culture and how it changes the lives of african americans. Falling in love,Finding yourself, life as a black man in society and much more. A Lyrically dense masterpiece

Mos tells stories by rapping and even singing, putting so much heart and soul into his music. With some of the most vivid storytelling of all time. Providing so many relevant reflections on society as a whole and unleashing his inner activist at times and truly speaking out.

The production is ahead of its time with a blend of hard hitting boom bap instrumentals and soul samples making the actual music stand out so much with such a genuine touch. With a lot of soul influence We see a well executed and cohesive sound which wasn’t afraid to stand out

In terms of lyricism We see one of the best rapping performances of all time from his hard hitting delivery on tracks like Do It Now and Speed law,to his comforting storytelling on tracks like ms fat booty and Love.

With the most impressive displays on this album on tracks like Mathematics and New World Water where he delivers such complex lyricism stacked with double entendre’s and socially relevant messaging as he dissects the system in such detail.
The best rapping performance ever

A cultural milestone and in my opinion the greatest piece of hip hop music ever made
Black on Both Sides disects culture society and everyday struggles and so much more in such a beautiful, personal and genuine way.
A timeless piece of art

Thanks for reading