Tag Archives: black on both sides

#879: Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty

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Another “M” titled track from Yasiin Bey’s Black on Both Sides album. Wasn’t too long ago that I was writing about another, and this time round is no disappointment either. ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ was the first single released from Mos Def’s album, and one of the best hip-hop tracks I know. From its Aretha Franklin-sampling beat to the rapper’s storytelling skills, delivering on all fronts with humour, cultural references, rhyme schemes, visuals, you name it, ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ is a true highlight of its genre.

What’s it about? Well, it’s better coming from Mos’ mouth, but I’ll lay down the story. He sees ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ on a night out who’s is something of a familiar face around his area. (We later find out her name is Sharice, but this is besides the point.) She catches him staring. He tries to chat her up, but she leaves him hanging. Some time later, by coincidence, they meet again at a mutual friend’s party. This time round they hit it off pretty sweetly and a relation ship blossoms. After weeks of dating, they have sex at his place. After this, she pretty much disappears. It’s apparent that Mos truly caught feelings for this woman, and after one last meeting where she tells him that she’s not cut out for commitment, she leaves. He’s heartbroken. Then out of the blue, he gets a call from one of his friends saying that he’s seen Sharice at the strip club dancing with a hot Asian lady. And just when Mos reacts with incredulity to this revelation, the track ends and goes straight into the next one on the album.

I told you, it’s not so great when you’re just reading it. Again, it all comes down to Mos Def’s delivery. In the Aretha intro, you’ll hear him reminiscing about how much he was in love with this woman and what could have been. Then the beat switches, and boom he just starts telling the story straight to you. The way that each verse or situation is preceded by “Scene 2” or “Scene 3” is a fantastic way to properly layout everything that’s happening. There’s no way as a listener that you can get lost in the narrative. He breaks out in song for some few seconds at some points before carrying on as if nothing happened. All of this while that Aretha Franklin beat is going on in the background. I’m telling you, this is one of those tracks that just showcases everything that’s good about hip-hop.

#875: Mos Def ft. Q-Tip – Mr. Nigga

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‘Mr. Nigga’ can be found on Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def’s) first solo studio album Black on Both Sides. I heard this track for the first time when I was 18 or so. At that age, you think you’re an adult ’cause that’s how it is in the UK. You really aren’t. I still had a lot of growing up to do. So when it came to this one, I didn’t really pay attention to what Mos Def what saying, but more how many times the N word was said in the track. Why’s that, you might ask. I’m not too sure myself. I guess an over-use of swear words in music was still amusing to me at the time. But then I got older, properly listened, and realised ‘Mr. Nigga’ is one of the realest hip-hop songs ever made. In three verses and its three choruses, the track deals with a topic that is very much relevant today – that being the subtle and not-so-subtle racism in society. Though coming from the perspective of a wealthy Black rapper, the situations are still the same.

The track tells a story of a wealthy Black man who still has to endure the stares, the comments, injustice from the law, mistreatment in America and abroad, all because of the colour of his skin. The instrumental’s great. Led by this flowing groove with some slapping bass and a somewhat cheery piano riff, it skips and hops and sometimes drops out to accentuate what Mos says in some places. But what really sells the song’s message, apart from the lyrics (obviously), is his delivery. The way he portrays the characters he describes by changing his voice, like the annoying flight attendant in the second verse, or when he expresses his loss for words when that same flight attendant asks for a photograph a few moments later. Just all throughout, Mos’ vocal delivery is so engaging and expressive, you can’t help but just nod your head to it, but you really have to take note that he is telling you some very serious stuff here. His admission that he’ll probably be treated the same way, even after having provided for his children or bought his mother a nice new house, doesn’t give much hope for the future either. There’s no happy ending to this track. And as you can see today, 22 years on, not much has changed really.

I like that Q-Tip is included in the track. He doesn’t have a verse. He more backs up Mos with ad-libs and joins him the chorus. I believe that’s due to the fact that the chorus itself is an interpolation of ‘Sucka Nigga’, a track that Q-Tip was on in his A Tribe Called Quest days. That’s all a side note though, needed a way to end this post on a positive. Both tracks are well worth the time.

#816: Mos Def – Mathematics

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You know, sometimes I wonder how things would be if Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) had only recorded the Black Star album and Black on Both Sides and just called it a day. After releasing what was his debut solo album in 1999, he took a five year break before returning with The New Danger. In that time, he invested more time in his acting career, which makes me think he may have at least been done with music for a while… Both Sides is an undeniable hip-hop classic. There’s something about it that makes me think if he had that album to his name, he would be even more legendary than he already is. But whatever. I would describe it as an album about being a Black man/artist in the 20th century, with the then-new millennium fast approaching, and how to cope with the struggles, but also look forward to the future.

‘Mathematics’ is the last track to feature vocals on the album, and what a way to close out what is already a lot to take in. In two verses, Mos Def goes all out. Everything from braggadocious lyrics to cultural references, to actual facts and social observations are in the two verses that are delivered on this track. Huge props should be given to DJ Premier who crafted the beat. It’s one that you could lie back and relax to, but it’s the samples and the scratching on top that’s just as manic and unpredictable as Mos Def’s energetic and sharp delivery. There’s so much to digest within each verse, but what I can say without giving it much justice is that numbers are important. If you want to rap, you’ve got to know some things about math. Statistics are on the news every day. And Mos Def makes a point that he doesn’t want to become a statistic himself. It’s just a whole breakdown on what he’s seen and things that he feels should be improved going into 2000 and onwards.

Followed by ‘May-December’, the instrumental that properly closes out the album, ‘Mathematics’ really feels like a drop the mic moment. There’s something very poignant and emphatic about it that I probably still haven’t managed to explain in this post. But it brings me back to my first point. If this was his last song, I probably wouldn’t be mad. It still applies today.