![]() He now works under the nom de plum Yasiin Bey, and has performed under the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante and Pretty Flaco. Maybe he’s leaving at the right time.Dante Terrell Smith (born Decemin Brooklyn, New York, United States), now known by the stage name Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper and actor. For an artist who once uplifted the masses, it seems he needs someone to do the same for him. While Bey and Sheppard share the blame for this debacle, December 99th is ultimately a bigger strike against the rapper’s legacy. But for the remainder, especially on “Blade in the Pocket,” “Seaside Panic Room” and “Shadow in the Dark,” the music sounds underdeveloped, exposing Bey's disengaged, flat mumbling in the harshest possible light. Tracks “Special Dedication” and “Heri” feel lush and aerated, giving Bey evocative canvases on which to create. “Tall Sleeves” boasts dark, smoldering synths that emit a sultry vibe. The only bright spots come from Sheppard’s soundtrack, but even those are few. It’s as if the rapper no longer believes his own words, or he’s tired of hearing himself say them. On “Local Time,” the message is noble enough, but the rapper’s lethargic drone makes it tough to digest for a discernible extent: “We experience tests today/Above all, we are blessed today/Same as every day/In a special way.” Bey built his career on these sorts of affirmations, but they land with a thud on December 99th. ![]() These are the lines you fumble through while you think of better lines to write. Instead of a finished project, December 99th feels like a demo that listeners should never hear. And when he’s not doing that, he whistles through these instrumentals-like a poor man’s Negan here to terrorize Rick Grimes. For its 31 minutes, Bey sleepwalks through every track, mumbling nonsensical flows that never connect at all. ![]() There’s nothing even remotely redeeming here, and it makes me wonder how long the rapper was awake before he wrote and recorded this material. I’m not just talking music I mean this is the saddest thing-album, commercial, or film-with which Bey’s been associated. After 2006’s True Magic, another dud released to fulfill Bey’s contract at Geffen Records, he rebounded on 2009’s The Ecstatic, a flurry of repurposed beats by Stones Throw affiliates.ĭecember 99th, Bey’s new album with producer Ferrari Sheppard, is by far the worst thing he’s ever released. But if nothing else, at least he sounded inspired, like he actually gave a shit about the art he’s releasing. With beats by producer Minnesota and contributions from his rock band, Black Jack Johnson, Bey opted for an edgy rock sound that occasionally missed the mark. Bey’s sophomore album- The New Danger, released five years later to the day in 2004-marked a drastic shift from the relaxed aura of his first record. 1998’s Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star, with friend and fellow Brooklyn lyricist Talib Kweli, is a widely heralded classic, and a year later Bey released Black on Both Sides, a remarkably nuanced LP full of introspective soul. Over the years, the rapper has been responsible for some of underground hip-hop's most resonant music.
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