MOS DEF'S THE ECSTATIC

Another pleasant surprise: the songs I've heard from Mos Def's The Ecstatic have been great. I felt like some of his recent stuff has been tainted by how much of a pain in the ass it has been for him to work with major labels. But I loved "Life In Marvelous Times" which came out last year, and The Ecstatic's "Casa Bey," "Auditorium" (featuring The Ruler) and "History" (with his Black Star mate Talib Kweli) are all great. Black Star recently played NYC, I'm sorry I missed it. I saw Mos last summer on the Rock The Bells tour, and it was all right, but when Kweli joined him onstage, it took things to the "next level" as they say. This summer, Kweli is on the tour with his other group, Reflection Eternal (with DJ Hi-Tek), hopefully Mos will join them.