In October of 1999 Mos Def released Black on Both Sides; somehow I didn't discover it till the following summer, but when I did it's all I listened to for maybe three months straight. It changed my life, and was one of the reasons I moved to the magical land that is Brooklyn. Since then Mos has blown up--Hollywood-style--which I don't begrudge him, but he's also foregone the MC life, choosing to release two very dismal albums, and then meandering drunk and high through the one live performance of his I managed to catch. Still, I've held on to the hope that the genius within would find a way out, but if ever there were a sign from God that the Mos I knew is no more, this is it: he was caught scuffling with a a paparazzo outside of Hyde, the West Hollywood celebutard club of choice--his brogue an unintelligible mess; his self-righteousness, his sense of entitlement, on full display. He has become one of those empty souls Perez Hilton fetishizes.What I implied in the inaugural post to this blog, thus, I now say without equivocation: Mos Def is dead. Thanks for the memories.
2 comments:
your usage of "celebutard" reminds me of this exchange between star "i'm a [former] lawyer" jones and time out new york (bold):
Celebutards, you mean? That’s what people call them.
I don’t understand. What’s the tard portion of it? I get the celeb part.
It’s from retard.
Really?!?
Yes. It’s not a nice word.
Not a nice word at all! I would never call anybody that!
I don't know about that, A Dilla. Saw the video and, it's pretty tame - who hasn't done some dumb shit when they walk out of a club, buzzed? - but it definitely is not enough to announce his death. If anything, this was much more problematic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdHmGF8ss08
But then you remember this, and feel better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNwTL0HQRI
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