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The Most Definite Yasiin Bey album.
A thread on The Ecstatic
A thread on The Ecstatic
The Ecstatic is the 4th full-length solo studio album by rapper Yasiin Bey (formally known as Mos Def). It came roughly 2.5 years after the release of his 3rd album True Magic.
True Magic was released haphazardly by Geffen records to fulfill Bey’s 3 album contract. Tha album can be heard with little tidbits, such as ad libs or production choices which shape The Ecstatic
Yasiin’s true debut came in 1998 with the collaborative album with Talib Kweli, “Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Blackstar”. A fantastic hip hop record in which they “abandoned the negativity of gangster rap”. Similar themes Yasiin would continue to rap about throughout his career.
The Ecstatic was released on June 9, 2009, by Downtown Records to widespread acclaim and touted as his best project since his 1999 debut, Black on Both Sides. The album's release was preceded by 3 singles, Life In Marvelous Times, Quiet Dog Bite Hard and Casa Bey.
The album's title comes from Victor LaValle's 2002 dark humor novel of the same title (one of Bey's favourite novels). The phrase resonated with Bey and he believed that he was the only one in hip hop who has ever tried to record an album like it.
The album was mostly recorded in a studio in Los Angeles with a few songs being recorded elsewhere. Yasiin Bey worked with Madlib, Oh No, Mr. Flash, Preservation, and Chad Hugo for production on The Ecstatic.
The Madlib produced song Auditorium (feat. Slick Rick) samples Movie Finale and Get It Right. A beat by the late J Dilla was used for the song History (feat. Talib Kweli). Georgia Anne Muldrow produced the track Roses which she was also featured on.
The album begins with the words "Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim" just like all of Bey's previous albums did. A common arabic saying translating to "In the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent".
It's followed by a sample of Malcolm X in which he sums up his beliefs which it can be assumed Yasiin agrees with.
Throughout the album Bey raps about seemingly whatever he wants. It's truly him being himself in his own ecstatic way. Whether it's love on Roses, -
Throughout the album Bey raps about seemingly whatever he wants. It's truly him being himself in his own ecstatic way. Whether it's love on Roses, -
his own priorities on Priority, Islam and global politics on The Embassy or a song in spanish where he speaks directly about the poor and how they struggle including his own upbringing in New York City with No Hay Nada Mas.
The album concludes with one of my favourite songs of all time, Casa Bey. Casa is the spanish word for house and with his last name following that in the track title as well as the lyrics I interpret this track as being an ode to himself.
The words "Boogie Man" are heard throughout the album. Bey has used them on The Embassy and Revelations as well as the first track off his second solo album The New Danger in The Boogie Man Song. The closing track Casa Bey which they are also used on perfectly sums up the -
album's themes of people, individualism and being ecstatic. These are perfectly captured in the lines "M-Def the Black, fantastic raw/Dynamic, true Ecstatic, ghetto outstanding". The album's last lines, repeated 5 times as they fade out, -
capture this essence even stronger. Those lines being "You can't stop my go//I've been born to be what I am//Bright light from a distant star//Miracles 'Don't stop”.
My personal love for the album comes from the instrumental styles and inspirations.
My personal love for the album comes from the instrumental styles and inspirations.
Growing up with bollywood music and movies around me, when I first heard Supermagic and Auditorium, it took me back to a simpler time in life. Whether it's the production, short, sweet and unresolving tracks or the rapping, I love every aspect of the Ecstatic.
Thank you for reading. I'm not a great writer, nor is this a very focused thread. It's just kinda something I wrote for an album I love that alot of people don't know about.
Thanks again for reading. RTs always appreciated
Thanks again for reading. RTs always appreciated
If you want a download of The Ecstatic and the REcstatic links below
