Why was Mos Def's career such a disappointment?

[newworldafro]

Agreed OP.

Blackstarr and Black on Both Sides are great albums to end the 90s and start the 2000s.

He could have been in the Top 10 - 15 conversation if he kept it up for another few years.

The acting, trying to bring back Black Rock n' Roll and whatever else...he just lost it.

 

[surv2syn]

Acting was his first career and he seemed more committed to that as time went on.

some good responses in here but I am going to go with this one the most. he was acting long before he was Mos Def even though he is a much better musical artist than anything

 

[bordeaux]

didnt seem to live up to his full potential in acting or music. otherwise he could easily be in the position of a guy like common. more like he attempted to go off the grid for whatever reason. i remember back in the day he was the one who got kanye to leave the country.

 

[get these nets]

nikkah put out the Rapeover going at Israeli execs and its been curtains since..

Did you ever hear his version Nolia Clap?
Katrina Clap?

 

[Ziggiy]

It probably got too easy for him.


When you make Black Star and BOBS BACK TO fukkING BACK... I mean damn.


Dude reached the zenith of rap supremacy on his first try. Who else besides Nas and Biggie can say what that feels like?

 

[Chris Cool]

Still waiting on the Mannie fresh album.

 

[Tom Foolery]

He wasn't a mainstream rapper. Only the underground heads think he's a disappointment, but he was never gonna be bigger than what he is.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Honestly I'm gonna defend Mos. Came into the game with a classic group/duo album (Blackstar). Then he dropped a classic solo album (Black On Both Sides). Then he dropped The New Danger, which isn't a classic album but still a good experimental album. This is where things get dicey: I know everyone disagrees but I really liked True Magic. It has some great tracks that are forgotten, man.


Then he dropped The Escatic, which is widely considered a return to form and great album. That's a good career. I'm disappointed the Yaasmin Bey era has resulted in little to no music though...that's the disappointing part. The actual albums are nice.

 

[King Poetic]

That whole Rawkus Records era was tight and then nikkas started losing site

 

[winb83]

Too bad the new Blackstar album is shelved.

 

[Walt]

Mos had it. Which, sadly, allowed him to coast. He got too deep into character, speaking in his exaggerated blaccent, being a reckless alcoholic, and womanizing to an extent that would shame even a womanizer. That's pretty much all there is to that.

 

[Art Barr]

fox pulled their whooie whoo doo on mos.
that is what happened.

how y'all don't know.
y'all lesson by now is telling as fukk tho.

also behind the scenes privately.
mos was/is a cosby kid.
so who knows with all that deception compounded on to him.
plus how he took it as well.

shyt he could bounce he did his thing and the fox and Cosby shyt is not his fault.
how was he to know at that time.
he thought he was on the cultural side at the behest of the real tho.

he could tell his pocket of time when he shined in a movie and play the ultimate cultural hero via movie magic and nobody could say shyt. Outside of the worst jay leno performance. besides that he dressed weird a few times and buss down females for what we know.

most of the so-called rappers were not as nice.
or cultural with it.
even in getting sent off.
they could say much besides he dressed weird and got duped by fox and cosby.
which for the time.
nobody knew consistently and i would not say those two factors created him either. As i would say imo mos was there because he was an actual talent. That just got hit with compounded administrative haymakers of the unforeseeable time.
outside of single parenthood.

art barr





art barr

 

[Kaydigi]

A lot of props on here for The Ecstatic. I don’t remember anything about it, lost the cd shortly after it came out.

Going to spin it today on Apple Music if they have it.

Edit
It’s not on Apple Music. Will cop it later.

 

[JustCKing]

MC's release their best material in their 20's. So it isn't a secret as to why his best releases are Blackstar and Black On Both Sides. The fact that he is also does more artistically than just rap (he acts and songs too) and as we've seen, they just lose that fire and drive to keep making music. That or they fold under the pressure of their own greatness. It has happened to Andre 3000 and Lauryn Hill. Then you have ones that really don't see rapping as the primary way to express themselves (i.e. Cee Lo Green rarely rapping and mostly singing).

 

[bzb]

i remember first noticing mos def when he featured on da bush babees album gravity (which was a very good album). was clearly the best artist on every track he was on. and bush babees weren't wack by any measure. remember checking for everything he was on after that.

had really high expectations after bobs, but his focus seemed to change when he got wind of that hollywood money. seemed uninterested or uninspired. still a great mc, but bobs was the pinnacle of rap career to me.