Please Don’t Lie To Us, Mos

Shouts to Cons! I just peeped his latest viral clip over at nahright and it features some footage of Mos Def and Kanye West chopping it up backstage at some show. In the brief clip, Mos tells Ye he wants him to produce his next album along with the late great J Dilla and then wants the final Black Star album to be produced by Ye, Dilla and Hi-Tek. Ye just stood there listening to him as if the freakin’ thing would never happen. Well, I hope it does.

Let’s not get it twisted. Mos never fell off. Right before The New Danger finally came out a few years back, I remember thinking Mos was set for the stratosphere. Black On Both Sides had stuck gold years prior and Mos was gaining great exposure via HBO’s Def Poetry and stand out film roles like Something The Lord Made and The Italian Job. I’m cool with some of Mos’ peoples and I remember hearing stories about him not wanting to become too big of a star. It’s like…He was purposely holding back or something. Word is during his hiatus, Jimmy Iovine told Mos, “give me a dope album and I’ll take you to the moon.” In a rare instance, I believed a TI. I mean, Mos surely would have been a priority up at Geffen. All he needed was a solid single and a good body of work.

I wanted to like The New Danger and True Magic so badly, but it just didn’t cut it. Upon hearing them, I couldn’t help but think about Mos' reluctance to embrace stardom. His flow was still sick, his lyrical ability intact. But the production was just so subpar and the songs unfocused for the most part.

I say let Ye executive produce the joint. Look at what he did for Common’s career. Next thing you know, dude is making $12 million in a year, per Forbes. Not that Mos needs any extra change, I just think Wes could help deliver classic Mos. I say stick to the Ye/Dilla combo and keep Pharrel far away from him. I'd hate to get all hype about the prospect of a Dilla/West -produced album only to get another True Magic.