We love that the dude's flow is smooth as marble, that his slow, weeded demeanor belies a curious, active mind. But it's obvious Mos Def is better when he's shoulder to shoulder with other giants. His work with Talib Kwali in Black Star, Michel Gondry in Be Kind Rewind... and just when everyone wrote him off as an emcee, he pulled in production from Madlib, Oh No, J Dilla, and The Neptunes to record The Ecstatic last year... a surprisingly good album considering the phoned-in crap that preceded it. Without a decent structure (like the bulletproof, sample-heavy beats from Stones Throw guys), Mos drifts off into pseudo- sing-songy shit that chafes after a few tracks. He needed them, but hey, it's ok to admit the ol' lone wolf works better in a pack.
One of the better examples on the record, with Slick Rick over a Madlib bollywood beat:
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