Universal Mag-No-Watch

I've been a huge Mos Def fan since I heard his Universal Magnetic single way back in the mid-90s. Black Star, with Talib Kweli, and his first release, Black on Both Sides, are two of my favorite cds all-time. Smart. Conscious. Clean. Tight. Mos practices what he preaches, and seems consistent in his professional choices. We actually learned that he was playing only a couple days before, when he took over a local radio station and gave a fantastic interview. Take home messages: Black Thought is the untouchable, reigning king of emcees, and radio and video are tools of the old industry - digital technology has made the middle man obsolete.

I rarely see live shows, but was excited when I went with a few friends to see The Mighty Mos Def at Mezzanine last night. Sold out show in a solid, medium sized venue. Solid crowd in attendance. Doors opened at 9pm, and all bars in SF must close by 2am. A work night, we figured he wouldn't get there till 10:30 or so, but when midnight rolled around and he still hadn't shown, the crowd began to get a bit restless. A guy standing in front of me had taken CalTrain into the city for the show. His plan had been to catch an hour or so of the show, then head back on the last train. Instead, the poor, devoted guy got to hear one song.

The show itself, once it finally got started, was fantastic. Mos didn't play as many of his older songs as I'd have liked, but he made up for that by playing some of his works in progress. Even better, he focused on and rapped over long stretches of the original jazz and soul tracks sampled for his music. Tremendous.

I guess rappers don't invest in watches. Hopefully, Mos will spend his watch money to give the DJ a raise. With no opening act and no updates before Mos' arrival, kid earned it.

Definition Video (one of my favorites)