Man of the Year 2007

the ghettoManga Man of the Year for 2007 is the Mighty Mos def. i love his music, but 2007 was a pretty forgetable year for his rap career: Mos sold a measly 86,000 copies of his latest ceedee Tru3 Magic (pictured on the right), dropped a complilation in europe that stateside heads can't even buy, still hasn't topped his first solo plate Black on Both Sides (pictured above), and there is still no new BlackStar album with Talib Kweli. in 2007, Mos made more noise outside the vocal booth than in it...

while watching Mos Def alongside Dr Cornel West on the Bill Maher show

, i was reminded why Hip Hop was considered THE revolutionary subculture in its glory days. similar to cats like PE and BDP back in the day, Mos is commited to rocking parties as well as rocking your dome and making you think! Mos used the platform to draw attention to political prisoners like the San Francisco 8 and the Jena 6 with vigor, humor and charm.

but that was just the tip of the iceberg... while many so-called black leaders were still in the dark, Mos was one of the (very) few rappers to travel to Jena, Louisana to take part in the initial Jena 6 protest, and subsequently organized a nationwide school walk out to continue to seek justice for them.

according to renowned hip hop pundit, Davey D, "a couple of months after that Mos Def went to San Francisco and put on a benefit concert to raise money for the SF8 who he feels are being unfairly prosecuted and railroaded for crimes they were aquitted of over 3o years ago.Mos not only put on a full fledged 3 hour concert complete with a dope back up band, but he also held a standing room only town hall meeting in one the housing projects in the Filmore section of SF to bring attention to this issue. He had two of the SF8 on stage with him. "

comparing Mos to 1940's actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson, Davey says "What makes Mos Def's situation so unique is that he's a popular rap star who has appeared in a number of Hollywood feature length films.

Him making such remarks could potentially be the kiss of death to his career and he really may wind up like Paul Robeson and be permanently blackballed. However Mos seems unbothered as he continues to speak out on what he sees as wrong"

in a time when most artists' moves are made solely to benefit themselves, Mos was more concerned with what was best for US as a whole. as he said at the end of the magnificent protest remix Katrina Clap, "Don't talk about it, BE about it!"...

that's what's up.

peace,

samax.
www.ghettoManga.com
comics. hiphop. news. art. culture