The Ecstatic charted at number nine on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release and eventually sold 168,000 copies. Mos Def titled The Ecstatic after one of his favorite novels, the 2002 Victor LaValle book, believing its titular phrase evoked his singular creative vision for the album. Its loosely structured, lightly reverbed songs use unconventional time signatures and samples taken from a variety of international musical styles, including Afrobeat, soul, Eurodance, jazz, reggae, Latin, and Middle Eastern music. Mos Def's raps about global politics, love, spirituality, and social conditions are informed by the zeitgeist of the late 2000s, Black internationalism, and Pan-Islamic ideas, incorporating a number of Islamic references throughout the album. The album has been described by music journalists as a conscious and alternative hip hop record with an eccentric, internationalist quality. For its front cover, a still from Charles Burnett's 1978 film Killer of Sheep was reproduced in red tint. Singer Georgia Anne Muldrow, formerly of the record label, was one of the album's few guest vocalists, along with rappers Slick Rick and Talib Kweli. Flash, Oh No, and Madlib, the latter two of whom reused instrumentals they had produced on Stones Throw Records. He worked with producers such as Preservation, Mr. It was released on June 9, 2009, by Downtown Records.Īfter venturing further away from hip hop with an acting career and two poorly received albums, Mos Def signed a recording contract with Downtown and recorded The Ecstatic primarily at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. The Ecstatic is the fourth album by American rapper Mos Def.
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