The Ecstatic

The Ecstatic
Studio album by Mos Def
Released	June 9, 2009
Genre	Hip hop
Length	45:34
Label	Downtown
Producer	J Dilla, Mr. Flash, Madlib, Mos Def, The Neptunes, Oh No, Preservation
Mos Def chronology
True Magic (2006) The Ecstatic (2009)
Singles from The Ecstatic
"Life in Marvelous Times" Released: November 4, 2008 "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" Released: January 13, 2009 "Casa Bey" Released: May 2009 "Supermagic" Released: December 2009 "History" Released: January 2010

The Ecstatic is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Mos Def, released June 9, 2009 on Downtown Records. The album was produced by J Dilla, Mr. Flash, Madlib, Mos Def, Oh No, Preservation, and The Neptunes.

The album debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 39,000 copies in its first week. It serves as Mos Def's second highest charting album to date. Upon its release, The Ecstatic received universal acclaim from music critics.

Background

In a podcast interview with Anthony DeCurtis at the 92nd Street Y, Mos Def stated that he named the album after the book The Ecstatic by Victor LaValle.^[1] The album features collaborations with Slick Rick, Talib Kweli and Georgia Anne Muldrow,^[2] as well as production by Mr. Flash and the late J Dilla.^[3] The album cover is taken from Charles Burnett's 1978 film, Killer of Sheep.^[4]

Music and lyrics

Music journalist Robert Christgau said that the album's "unresolved" songs segue into one another, which gives it the feel of a mixtape whose music makes up a "world hip-hop" with "poles in Brooklyn and Beirut."^[5] Simmy Richman of The Independent categorized it as conscious hip hop with an Eastern-influenced musical backdrop that is reflective of Mos Def's "post-War on Terror" themes.^[6] The Ecstatic‍ '​s "out-of-the-crates" samples are taken from a variety of musical styles, including soul, Afrobeat, eurodance, jazz, funk, and Latin music.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Release and promotion

In live shows, Mos Def performed new songs from the album before its release. Crowds had heard tracks produced by Madlib and Oh No (Madlib’s younger brother). The album's first single, "Life in Marvelous Times", was released November 4, 2008.^[11] Its second single, "Quiet Dog", was produced by Preservation and released January 13, 2009.^[12] Released May 2009,^[13] the third single "Casa Bey" was promoted through a music video that was released via Mos Def's Myspace page.^[14] On June 18, 2009, Mos Def stated that he will start selling the album by T-shirts sometime in July 2009 with a code on the tag, which will be used to download off the Internet for free.^[15] So far, Mos Def has released music videos for the songs "Casa Bey,"^[16] "Supermagic" ^[17] and "History" with Talib Kweli.^[18]

Commercial performance

The Ecstatic debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 39,000 copies in its first week.^[19][20] It also entered at number two in mp3-format album sales on Amazon.com.^[21] In its second week on the Billboard 200, the album fell to number 29 on the chart with 16,000 copies sold.^[22] In its third week, the album sold 9,200 copies, slipping to number 45 on the Billboard chart.^[23] The album slipped off of the Billboard 200 after the week of July 5, 2009, in which it sold an additional 6,600 copies at #69.^[24] The album spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200,^[25] and has sold more than 71,000 copies.^[24]

As of March 2014, the album had sold an estimated 168,000 copies in the United States.^[26]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[27]
The A.V. Club	B+[28]
Robert Christgau	A[5]
The Guardian	[29]
NME	7/10[30]
Pitchfork Media	8.0/10[4]
Rolling Stone	[31]
Slant Magazine	[32]
Spin	8/10[33]
The Times	[34]

The Ecstatic received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 28 reviews.^[35] Greg Kot, writing in the Chicago Tribune, said that it is a "return to form for a wayward hip-hop giant" whose reinvigorated commitment makes most of the album successful.^[7] Allmusic's Andy Kellman called it "a mind-bending, low-key triumph" with a magnetism and unpolished eccentricity that requires several listens to fully appreciate.^[27] In his review for The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin said that the album overcomes its occasionally hurried, extemporaneous feel and coheres because of affective production, Mos Def's melodious voice, and "a lyrical and sonic fascination with life beyond the Western World."^[28] Ben Thompson of The Observer found his "analytical skills" impeccable and said that, because of its diverse range of samples, the album serves as both "a crate-digger's wet dream" and "a thrillingly accessible demonstration of hip-hop's limitless creative possibilities" to a layperson.^[10] MSN Music's Robert Christgau found the songs "devoid of hooks but full of sounds you want to hear again" and "thoughtfully slurred", yet intelligible lyrics by Mos Def, whose vision warrants the introductory Malcolm X sample.^[5]

Pete Cashmore of NME was less enthusiastic in his review and said that it is merely "good".^[30] Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson felt that, apart from the "I Wish"-like "Life in Marvelous Times", The Ecstatic lacks song structure and "careens wildly, free from the constraints of chorus and verse".^[32] Mick Middles of The Quietus viewed it as the work of an aloof, "rampant" artist and said that the music is "allowed to flow free, for better or worse."^[36] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone found it "mildly strange" and wrote that Mos Def "doesn't maintain quality control during the course of 16 often arty tracks."^[31] The magazine later named it the 17th best album of 2009.^[37] For the 2009 Grammy Awards, The Ecstatic was nominated in the category of Best Rap Album. The single "Casa Bey" was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance.^[38]

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

References

External links

• The Ecstatic at Discogs (list of releases)