![]() Under 25’s require ID to purchase alcohol ![]() “Simply one of the coolest cats in the rap game, Mos Def sits firmly amongst the greats” – Gigwise. “Mos Def’s stagecraft, a gift for showbiz and can actually get the sell-out crowd going crazy for the duration of his set” – NME. Known for his ferocious, rapid-fire delivery of intricate rhymes and high energy performances, Ocean Wisdom has shot into the limelight and will undoubtedly bring a performance to remember.ĭon’t miss one of rap’s true greats in what will be the most talked about Hip Hop events ever. legend will be joined by groundbreaking UK artist Ocean Wisdom. Working closely with big hitters from across Hip Hop including the likes of The Roots, De La Soul, Madlib, Common, DJ Shadow, Kanye West (signing to G.O.O.D Records for a spell) as well as musicians from outside of the rap sphere including Gil Scott Heron, Bobby Womack, The Gorillaz and Robert Glasper (as part of the Mos Def Big Band) amongst countless others, Mos Def has never been shy in sharing his genius with other artists to create something special.Īt O2 Forum Kentish Town, this U.S. The near two decades since then have seen an unprecedented output of critically acclaimed work, both as a solo artist and fierce collaborator. Mos Def really doesn’t need any introduction: Exploding into public consciousness as part of BlackStar (with Talib Kweli) in 1998, it was Mos’ debut ‘Black On Both Sides’ a year later that rocketed the New York rapper to astronomical heights, propelled by universal acclaim for the LP, which continues to be held up as one of the genre’s greatest ever albums. “Black Sunlight” has Elucid wanting to grow kale and telling Black men to smile more-a flip from nefarious sexists telling Black women to smile.Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def is coming to London’s O2 Forum for a one-off performance of the classic Mos Def album THE ECSTATIC, as well as other classic Mos Def material 2021’s Haram is the sunniest-choosing to be less intense and more a celebration of human life in the face of inhospitable conditions. They have more personality than you are expecting, and while the dogma does not change, their anger or particular joy certainly does. ![]() But the key to Armand Hammer-and what people tend to ignore about their style and the style of their forebears, such as Def Jux-is that humor is drilled in their work like a seed in an olive. 2017’s Rome felt like a series of abstract discussions, with Elucid rapping, “I wanna see everyone who is made invisible.” 2018’s Paraffin-“That’s a good album to start at,” woods says after I tell him that was the first album I heard from his catalog-is full of challenging distortions and noisy dissonance even the trumpets on “Hunter” sound like plastic is in the horn. Each album might zone in on a similar theme-life in a world that so demonstratively doesn’t value you-but it has a different production style, syntax, or overall mood. With Armand Hammer, woods is a collaborator with rapper Elucid, and their collaboration has been fulfilling. To see woods is to see the large importance of community. It’s not about raising consciousness so much as living in the world, just like we are. But you haven’t heard any of the previous righteous Gods say something like, “Got caught with the pork/ But you gotta kill the cop in your thoughts still sayin’ ‘Pause’/ Negores say they hate the cops, but the minute somethin’ off, they wanna use force.” By mentioning pork-something considered haram in Black Muslim culture-he captures the link between previous generations of socially aware rap, their longstanding heteronormativity and latent homophobia, and how that all exists within the working class. It’s easy to imagine Talib Kweli or Mos Def rapping, “Dreams is dangerous, linger like angel dust/ Ain’t no angels hovering, ain’t no savin’ us,” as woods did on “Sir Benni Miles,” from the 2021 Armand Hammer album, Haram. His eleventh studio record, Maps, is out this week from his label Backwoodz Studioz, and in his music, he’s lofty, dealing not only in systemic politics but in what it means to understand empathy and shared allyship innately. Now 44, woods is a rapper of kaleidoscopic and philosophical profundity.
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