Review Summary: Awesome summer music, great remixtape.
As of late, it’s been all the rage to remix hip-hop albums by taking their acappellas, and laying them over instrumentals from other genres in an experimental effort. It’s a fairly common occurrence, and more often than not, the remix compilations are moderately commended. However, rarely is such an album exceptionally great. But,
Mos Dub – whether or not official – is one of those rare cases. A mix between popular Mos Def vocals and classic reggae samples implemented by Max Tannone,
Mos Dub came at the perfect time. With the weather heating up, spring in full bloom, and summer right around the corner, this breezy, refreshing mixtape has a release date that is just what the doctor ordered, and as a result, this should be in many summer rotations for weeks to come.
The best part about this mixtape is that it sounds completely natural. That is, Mos Def sounds totally comfortable and in place. With his refined, half-nasally Q-Tip/half-back throat Nas voice, Mos Def delivers emotionally connected ideological messages regarding life, hip-hop, love, and politics.
“
Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story/Three strikes and you be in for life, mandatory/Four MC's murdered in the last four years/I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here/Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills/Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's/It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal/They on the hill puffin krill to keep they belly filled/Light in the ass with heavy steel, sights on the pretty *** in life/Young soldiers tryin to earn they next stripe/When the average minimum wage is $5.15”
From hearing this, it’s not only apparent he’s emotionally involved in his music, but that his lyrics aren’t too far from what you would see from actual reggae artists.
With instrumentals perfect for the summertime,
Mos Dub is great summertime, cruising music. With beat influences ranging from ragga (the reverberating bass, spontaneous, yet chill, horns, and morphing synths of “Ms Vampire Booty”) to dub (the tropical guitars, bumping percussion, claps, and happy hook sample of “History Town”) to jazzy reggae (the horn-spurred, soothing “Hurricane Black”) to dancehall (the simplistic, funky “Mr Universe,”) Max Tannone composes some feel-good, sunny music.
An interesting remix compilation to say the least,
Mos Dub has the perfect sound, runtime, and lyrical content to make for a great summer car-ride CD. This will make its way out of the rotation when the leaves start to change colors, but since that’s a long way off, it will garner repeated listens, and deservedly so.
