Mos Def - Black on Both Sides

Pure Genius...instant hip hop classic

This album BLEW ME AWAY when I first heard it! I'll never forget my reaction(s) to each track. An album like this comes along once every 20 years. From beginning to end, we witness a hip hop master at work.
Mos Def is Mos Due for another spectacular album...possibly another album with Blackstar....because, well, Talib Kweli is outnumbering him in top tier hip hop albums to this point. That being said, no collection is complete unless Black on Both Sides is dusted monthly in your respective CD player. August 23, 2008

Love it!

I listen to this CD over and over and over again! Mos says so much and he is so creative! If you love Hip Hop, you'll love this CD.... August 4, 2008

Buy the track "Hip-Hop

Just buy hip hop and maybe booty lady or whatever is the name of that other song. It got old after on a few listens and the beats were so wack on some of the tracks I didn't even listen to all of it really. July 3, 2008

Beautiful on Both Sides

I'll keep this short and sweet: This album is amazing. If you like hip-hop music, there is absolutely no reason why you should not have this album. NO reason at all. September 8, 2007

Very creative and original rap - you'll most like love it!

Mos Def's "Black On Both Sides" is a very appealing and very creative rap album. It definitely has a lot of heart and soul as well as deep and interesting lyrics. Mos Def is a pretty good rapper, though I wouldn't rank him as one of my favorites - he certainly gets the job done, though. What's great about this album is the lyric's honesty, the production and the fact that every song is good. In the first song Mos Def essentially says exactly what needs to be said - that YOU are the direction of hip-hop; YOU determine whether hip-hop turns into club rap garbage or meaningful music again (somehow Mos Def is the only rapper I know of to speak that truth). The lyrics are definitely the main attractor here. The production here is great - the beats are fantastic and they definitely help pull you into the songs. Mos Def himself is arguably the weakest part of the album - he may be a very good lyricist and freestyler, but his voice isn't that great. You definitely won't hate him, but you'll probably recognize it could be better. Rap fans will surely love this album (though I don't know about mainstream rap fans), and those with an open mind will probably love it too. If you liked this album I would highly recommended Black Star's "Black Star" as well as Talib Kweli's "Quality" and "Reflection Eternal. Highly recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album! January 9, 2006

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