For now, 2009 seems to be looking up for hip-hop heads. The man himself, mighty Mos Def, is set to release his fourth studio LP, The Ecstatic, February 10 via Downtown Records. The Brooklyn-based rapper’s last album, 2006’s Tru3 Magic (TMT Review), was a critical success, but a commercial failure, only selling 93,000 copies. (This was partly due to poor promotion by his previous label, Geffen Records.)
If the hype is right, The Ecstatic is set to be a hip-hop heavyweight, perhaps close to the success of Def’s first solo album, 1999’s Black on Both Sides (TMT Review), or his collaboration with rap champion Talib Kweli, 1998’s Black Star? The Ecstatic will reportedly feature collaborations with Kweli and Slick Rick, as well as production from Madlib, the late J Dilla, Kanye West, and Chad Hugo from The Neptunes.
If you’re like me and just can’t wait, be sure to lookout for the album’s first single, “Life in Marvelous Times,” as an iTunes exclusive on November 4. And if that’s not enough -- and you’re feeling really ambitious -- you can catch Mos Def on the European half of the Rock the Bells tour with Nas and The Pharcyde (TMT News).
