Hip Hop 2004: Part II

Although the underground produced the best albums of the year, that shouldn't overshadow some outstanding work from many starts that can no longer be considered underground but are making their ways to stardom. Mos Def's release falls into this category, and at least to me, was one of the most solid albums of the year. The New Danger showed the maturation of Mos Def into more than just a guy spitting rhymes. The fusion of rock, hip hop and just trancy rhymes and beats made this a standout album albeit in ways that many had not expected. People who were expecting another solid hip hop album rant into a surprise when the new album featured heavy influences from Mos' spoken word show on HBO and his work with his rock bank, Black Jack Johnson. The album is proof that many more years of great music can be expected from this Brooklynite as he just keeps getting better and better at everything he tes.

On the other hand, another Brooklynite closely related to Mos did not do so well with his new album. I think part of the issue was the leak that occured in March and ruined his release date. When he went back to the album, it just didn't get any better. Everyone listended to it on the bootleg and then thought it would just get better. I though the bootleg was excellent but the final release wan't much different and by then, I started feeling like he's doing the same thing this year that he did the last. The Beautiful Struggle is a solid album but not as good as I had expected. However, I can't say I'm surprised, Talib has a very plain style, he's got speed in his rhymes and he's got intelligence in his though. But he lacks flow, the ability to make u react differently to different songs. That's his achilles heel as an artist. Yet, at the same time, he is also infinitely better than many of the rags out there.