By Chris Whitworth
:: Mos Def
:: Powerstation, Auckland
:: February 1, 2011
He certainly wasn’t dressed like a rapper when he strutted on stage at the Auckland Powerstation last night.
Mos Def could have walked straight out of 1920s Brooklyn, greeting the crowd in a pressed shirt and braces, accompanied by beige slacks that rode up the ankle to clearly reveal his black and white swinger shoes.
The set to follow wouldn’t much resemble a typical rap gig either.
Mos crooned, Mos danced, Mos did five minute drum solos… but did Mos rap?
In short, yes. But not the album most people came to hear. Black on Both Sides, the New York rapper’s debut album, is considered an essential album in any hip-hop head’s collection. Yet he only gifted the crowd three songs from the album, instead stubbornly favouring his latest effort The Ecstatic for the majority of the set.
Admittedly, the name of the tour was “The Ecstatic” so it would be naïve to expect a performance made up of songs released more than a decade ago. But given Mos Def has only once visited New Zealand before, back in 2006, he had to expect fans old and new to be expecting a heavy portion of the classics.
New tracks like ‘Twilight Speedball’ and ‘Life in Marvelous Times’ were still a delight and definitely showed off the rapper’s verbal dexterity, but one never quite felt the rapper delivered on his legendary reputation as a lyrical heavyweight.
A highlight of the night was when Mos took to an empty drum kit to the side of the stage. The man is a true performer, and managed to easily hold the crowd’s attention through a lengthy and energetic drum solo which effortlessly merged into the percussive-heavy ‘Quiet Dog Bite Hard’.
Mos rapping the whole song DJ free, whilst drumming, was truly inspired.
But while the brief interlude left fans salivating for more Mos magic, an unscheduled break – due to a drunken fan hurling abuse – left a sour taste in the mouths of both fans and performer.
Mos Def was ever the gentleman and dealt with the fan firmly but politely, however he appeared distracted and more irritable in the songs following the confrontation. When the rapper finally left the stage, fans were begging for an encore. But as the wait lengthened and the house lights eventually came on, excitement turned to disappointment.
Mos had the last laugh with the unruly fan, but at the expense of the wider crowd.
The concert courted much anticipation in music circles, and while Mos Def was charming, witty and at times breathtaking – the rapper ultimately under-delivered on his reputation as a rap legend.
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