After venturing further away from hip hop with an acting career and two poorly received albums, Mos Def signed a recording contract with Downtown and recorded The Ecstatic primarily at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Fantastic song on a fantastic album.The Ecstatic is the fourth album by American rapper Mos Def, released on June 9, 2009, by the independent record label Downtown Records. It got insane replay value and while sure, it could probably have been even better if it was longer, I'm still completely satisfied by it and have no issue with it being so short. Shit is just beautiful, and even though it's so incredibly short, I don't feel like it ruins anything at all. ''Top priority Peace before everything, God before anything Love before anything, real before everything Home before anyplace, truth before anything Style and stay radiate, love power slay the hate Truth killer flaky face, Bey'll say it to they face Ain't afraid to major straight, grace set the table straight Flow greatest like the greatest lakes Capes on great estates, quiet water major waves'' The content and bars aren't mindblowing, but they're still great and especially accomponied with his fantastic delivery. But only an amazing beat isn't quite enough to make a song deserved of all the praise I give it, so gladly we got a fantastic performance from Mos Def on it. The major components of the beat, its melody, keys and especially the horns are all from one sample and its flipped beautifully by DJ Preservation, with fantastic drums and the trambouline or maraca (shit idk) that is present throughout the entire track. I'm starting to get repetitive with all the mentions of ''favourite'' so I'll use it a final two times to say that this song has my favourite beat of all time and is among by favourite songs of all time. My favourite song is one I love to talk about every chance I get, and one that only occupies 1:23 minutes of this album: Priority. It's 16 tracks/45 minutes which I think is perfect length for an album like this, and 10 years later I still think it holds up really well.

Some prefer Black On Both Sides or Black Star, but for me this is his best work. One of my favourite albums ever, and another classic to Mos Def's already impressive discography.

How does this album rank in Mos Def's discography? ' A sonic fascination with life beyond the Western World' - do you like the globally influenced sound of this album? What do you make of the themes and issues Mos Def explores? How strong is the lyricism on this album? What are your thoughts on the predominantly sample-based production and its use of unusual time signatures and unconventional breakdowns? What is your favorite beat? What are your thoughts on this album now that it has been out for 10 years? Mos Def titled The Ecstatic after one of his favorite novels, the 2002 Victor LaValle book, believing its titular phrase evoked his singular creative vision for the album. Its loosely structured, lightly reverbed songs use unconventional time signatures and samples taken from a variety of international musical styles, including Afrobeat, soul, Eurodance, jazz, reggae, Latin, and Middle Eastern music. Mos Def's raps about global politics, love, spirituality, and social conditions are informed by the zeitgeist of the late 2000s, Black Internalionalism, and Pan-Islamic ideas. The album has been described as a conscious and alternative hip hop record with an eccentric, internationalist quality. The Ecstatic was a widespread critical success, viewed as a huge return to form for Mos Def and one of the decade's best hip-hop albums. Today marks 10 years since the release of Mos Def's fourth album.

Mos def the ecstatic off spotify