By MOS DEF
IT has been 10 years since the Brooklyn rapper Mos Def, a k a Dante Terrell Smith, released his debut, “Black on Both Sides.” In the interim he’s honed his acting chops, winning an Obie for his work Off Broadway, nabbing an Emmy nomination for a television movie and appearing in successively larger film roles. And he has steadily recorded albums, earning three Grammy nominations. He picks up where he left off with his fourth album, “The Ecstatic” (Downtown Records), scheduled for release on June 9. The rapper, 35, recently returned from playing the Cape Town Jazz Festival and will appear on “The Late Show With David Letterman” on June 8 and “Late Night” With Jimmy Fallon on June 9. While he spoke by phone with Winter Miller about what he’s listening to now, his daughter interrupted with an accusation: He was eating all of the jelly beans.
Tumi and the Volume
I went to a skate shop in Johannesburg, and I was looking in the store at some of the local artists, and this cat came by and said, “You need to be checking these people out.” It’s an M.C. and a group of musicians, and they are like the Roots of Africa. “Tumi and the Volume” (Urbnet) is really good music: well-written songs, clever dance music. Well-structured rhymes delivered in an easy and urgent pace at the same time. It’s like King Sunny Adé or Talking Heads or Fela, or early Coldplay. It’s more interesting even than that stuff. It’s got lush melodies. They cover a lot of ground. There’s some Red Hot Chili-type flavor, some ska, there’s a lot going on in that band.
Georgia Anne Muldrow
She’s incredible. She’s like Flack, Nina Simone, Ella, she’s something else. She’s like religion. It’s heavy, vibrational music. I’ve never heard a human being sing like this. Her voice is wildly, finely expressive. It’s so singular. It’s hip-hop, the way that she approaches it rhythmically, she’s got so many jazz influences. It’s something else and you can just feel it. With “Georgia Anne Muldrow Presents Ms. One” (Someothaship) she’s like J. Dilla, the legendary producer. She makes her own beats, she rhymes, she sings, and she plays. If people love Amy Winehouse, they’re going to get their minds blown when they hear Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Doom
He’s one of the greatest rappers of all time. His new album, “Born Like This” (Lex), is incredible. He references Charles Bukowski, and I’m a big Bukowski fan. It would be like if Miles Davis was born in another time and didn’t play horn but he rhymed, and if Miles Davis wasn’t handsome and he rhymed. Doom’s a bit gnarly, it’s not friendly music. It’s really funny. Doom is an experience, he’s an incredible M.C. I’ll put money on him against any of these rappers. He’s so raw, very clever, socially maladjusted. I like those guys that make you mildly uncomfortable. The danger is real with him.
Noisettes
They have the most incredible lead singer in rock ’n’ and roll today, bar none. Her name is Shingai Shoniwa. She is phenomenal. She plays bass, she does lead vocals and her range is out of here. And she’s a stone babe. Like Grace Jones, Barbarella. It’s really kind of disturbing. The songs on “Wild Young Hearts” (Mercury) are well written, and the band is tight. They put me in the mind of Earl Greyhound, those three-piece sets that really work.
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You know how you hear something and you just relate? They rock. I like the title of their album too: “The Chemistry of Common Life” (Matador). I think I found out about them on the Net, I saw their name [unprintable in this newspaper], I said, “I’m game, I want to see what they’re about.” It’s raw, but it’s elegant. It’s intelligent, hardcore rock. It’s like Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Fugazi. A lot of people will call it punk, but it’s rock. It’s got good melodies. I listen to them on the road a lot. A lazy Sunday is a good time to listen to them. I would chill out to this music, read a book like “Animal Farm” and listen to this.
article:From Hardcore, From Rap, From Jazz, From Life
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