Black on Both Sides explained

Black on Both Sides
Type:studio
Artist:Mos Def
Cover:MosDefBlackonBothSides.jpg
Released:October 12, 1999
Genre:East Coast hip hop[1]
Length:71:21
Chronology:Yasiin Bey
Prev Title:Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:The New Danger
Next Year:2004

Black on Both Sides is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Yasiin Bey, then known as Mos Def, released on October 12, 1999, by Rawkus and Priority Records.

Released after his successful collaboration Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star,[2] Black on Both Sides emphasizes live instrumentation and socially conscious lyrics.[3]

On February 2, 2000, the album was certified Gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), following sales in excess of 500,000 copies.[4]

Music

Production

The album features a mix between established and rising producers. DJ Premier provides the instrumental track for "Mathematics". Diamond D is credited for "Hip Hop". Ali Shaheed Muhammad, known mostly as a member of A Tribe Called Quest, produced the seventh song "Got". Psycho Les of The Beatnuts produced "New World Water" and "Rock N Roll". Jazz legend Weldon Irvine provided additional production to "Climb".

Ayatollah produced "Ms. Fat Booty" and "Know That". 88-Keys produced "Love" and "Speed Law" and co-produced the instrumental outro "May–December" with Bey himself. David Kennedy (the second swing of "Brooklyn" and "Umi Says" produced with Bey), Mr. Khaliyl ("Do It Now"), DJ Etch-A-Sketch ("Climb" and "Habitat"), Ge-ology (The first swing of "Brooklyn") and D. Prosper ("Mr. Nigga") round out the other contributors.

Bey received production assistance on most of the album's tracks. His sole production credit comes at "Fear Not of Man", but he provided additional production to four tracks ("Hip Hop", "Rock N Roll", "Climb" and "Mr. Nigga") and co-produced three ("Umi Says", "Brooklyn" and "May–December").

Early versions

On the song "Brooklyn", a three-movement piece dedicated to Mos's neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, Bey rhymes three verses over three different beats. The first beat is an original composition produced by Ge-ology, while the second verse is a re-creation Smif-N-Wessun's "Home Sweet Home" and the last verse is set to the instrumental track of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1995 single "Who Shot Ya?". Originally, Bey rhymed three complete verses over Ge-ology's musical composition, now referred to as the first movement of the song. On a later version, the first and third verses are set to the instrumentals of two other 1995 New York rap hits, "Incarcerated Scarfaces" by Raekwon as well as "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)" by Mobb Deep, respectively. The "Who Shot Ya?" verse, with the same vocal take on the released version, is placed in the middle. Bey sings his own interpretation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge".

Video

Bey was involved with two videos for Umi Says. One was more traditional, while the second one came when Nike and Jordan Brand chose "Umi Says" as its theme song for its Much Respect series of commercials for the Air Jordan XVI. As a result, the second video features appearances from Michael Finley, Eddie Jones, Derek Jeter, Roy Jones Jr., Ray Allen and even Michael Jordan himself.[5]

Reception

Black on Both Sides received universal acclaim from critics. Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly praised the album's diversity and noted, "Merging old-school bravado with new-school poetics, the Brooklyn legend spouts incisive Afrocentric reality that takes all sides into account." Dan Leroy of Yahoo! Music opined that "Not since Rakim's heyday has a mic-rocker so clearly articulated such complex and entertaining thoughts, with the ability to wax eloquently on matters metaphysical ('Love') and just plain physical ('Ms. Fat Booty')" and hailed the album as "a sure pick as one of the year's best."[2]

The Independent lauded the record's "sharp reflections on a range of subjects from parochialism to pollution, fear to fat booties, rap to rock 'n' roll" and wrote that Black on Both Sides "stands as a proud example of the heights hip-hop can achieve when its exponents put their minds to it."[3] The Village Voices Robert Christgau wrote that while he felt the album ran too long, "the wealth of good-hearted reflection and well-calibrated production overwhelms one's petty objections".[6] In a retrospective review, Charles Aaron of Spin described Bey as a "restless B-Boy citizen of the world" and called the album "playful, witty, and heart-pounding."

Track listing

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1999)Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[7] 56
US Billboard 200[8] 25
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[9] 3
US Billboard Top Rap Albums[10] 1
Singles
YearTitle[11] [12]
1999"Ms. Fat Booty"5420—
2000"Umi Says"——60

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 50 Greatest East Coast Hip-Hop Albums of the 1990s. The Boombox. October 20, 2017. August 2, 2024.
  2. Web site: Dan. Leroy. October 12, 1999. Mos Def: Black on Both Sides. https://archive.today/20240524222509/https://www.webcitation.org/5q9TBksR4?url=http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12037020. dead. 2024-05-24. Yahoo! Music. August 28, 2009.
  3. News: October 29, 1999. Latest Albums Review. The Independent. August 28, 2009.
  4. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Black+on+Both+Sides RIAA - Gold & Platinum Search
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tltSMDR8B8 Umi Says - Much Respect
  6. News: Christgau. Robert. Robert Christgau. Hit It, Now Hold It. The Village Voice. New York. November 2, 1999. August 28, 2009. November 8, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121108093415/http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-11-02/music/hit-it-now-hold-it/2. dead.
  7. Mos Def albums peak chart position in United Kingdom: The New Danger: Web site: Mos Def. The Official Charts Company. June 18, 2012.
  8. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=mos def|chart=Billboard 200}} Mos Def Album & Song Chart History: Billboard 200]. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2012.
  9. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=mos def|chart=R&B/Hip-Hop Albums B}} Mos Def Album & Song Chart History: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2012.
  10. [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=mos def|chart=Rap Albums}} Mos Def Album & Song Chart History: Rap Albums]. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2012.
  11. Billboard Charts.Mos Def Singles Chart History .
  12. Official Charts Mos Def Chart Singles History. officialcharts.com

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