Spring Break
Spring concert? Mos Def.
by Jon Fischer
Arts | 3/15/05
Posted online at 5:15 AM EST on 3/15/05
Imagine it's 1998. In the two years since the violent murders of iconic rappers 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G., mainstream hip-hop has drifted away from the hard-edged style prevalent during the first half of the 1990s. Artists-cum-entrepreneurs like Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs and Master P now dominate the radio waves and MTV, polishing their gangsta roots with a commercial sheen. Having pulled their lyrical foci from America's ghettos-and placing them squarely in the realm of night clubs, Jacuzzis, Cristal and bling-hip-hop has become further removed from its old-school roots than ever before.
It was two young rappers who, in the summer of that year, provided an intelligent alternative to the hip-hop status quo. Channeling old-school progenitors like Run-DMC and KRS-1 and the early-'90s jazz-rap collective Native Tongues, Mos Def and Talib Kweli released one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time: Black Star. Just as Native Tongues' socially-conscious rhymes and jazz-inflected beats had brought a positivity to counterbalance gansta rap, Black Star's unique Afro-centrism and informed, philosophical style provided a foil to less substantive artists like Combs, catapulting the two rappers to the forefront of the hip-hop conscience and heavily influencing the mainstream and underground rap communities ever since.
That same iconoclasm will come to Waltham on April 7 when Mos Def-who in the seven years since the release of Black Star has crafted an acclaimed solo career and dabbled successfully in acting-brings his intricate, energetic flow to Gosman Gymnasium.
Born Dante Bezé in Brooklyn in 1973, Mos Def reached maturity during the 1980s-the golden age of hip-hop. He was influenced not only by the vibrant music scene, but by the surrounding culture as well, developing a strong social conscience that would later influence his music. He began rapping at age nine and eventually formed the hip-hop ensemble Urban Thermo Dynamics in the early '90s, which released the single "My Kung Fu."
It was two young rappers who, in the summer of that year, provided an intelligent alternative to the hip-hop status quo. Channeling old-school progenitors like Run-DMC and KRS-1 and the early-'90s jazz-rap collective Native Tongues, Mos Def and Talib Kweli released one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time: Black Star. Just as Native Tongues' socially-conscious rhymes and jazz-inflected beats had brought a positivity to counterbalance gansta rap, Black Star's unique Afro-centrism and informed, philosophical style provided a foil to less substantive artists like Combs, catapulting the two rappers to the forefront of the hip-hop conscience and heavily influencing the mainstream and underground rap communities ever since.
That same iconoclasm will come to Waltham on April 7 when Mos Def-who in the seven years since the release of Black Star has crafted an acclaimed solo career and dabbled successfully in acting-brings his intricate, energetic flow to Gosman Gymnasium.
Born Dante Bezé in Brooklyn in 1973, Mos Def reached maturity during the 1980s-the golden age of hip-hop. He was influenced not only by the vibrant music scene, but by the surrounding culture as well, developing a strong social conscience that would later influence his music. He began rapping at age nine and eventually formed the hip-hop ensemble Urban Thermo Dynamics in the early '90s, which released the single "My Kung Fu."
