Mos Def kept us waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Then, he killed it.
Mos Def, who recently changed his stage name to Yasiin Bey, has never been known for his punctuality. Bey is reliably tardy to most of his concerts and kept the sold out crowd at 9:30 club on Feb. 20 standing for over an hour and a half after the show’s start time.
The show turned out to be worth the wait, however, providing the crowd with what will surely be one of the best hip-hop shows in the District this year.
It’s easy to be skeptical of concerts that lack a live band, since the sheer energy of live instrumentation is hard to replicate.
This skepticism proved entirely unfounded when it came to Bey, who was simply brimming with an infectious energy on Monday night. He danced while rapping, used the entire breadth of the stage during each and every song and stood on monitors whenever he felt like it.
Bey appeared to be genuinely excited to perform, carrying about him a cool ease and sly smile throughout the entirety of his near two hour set.
The first half an hour or so of the show was dedicated to tracks from his 2009 Grammy Award-winning album, “The Ecstatic.”
A master performer and fierce tease, Bey was not content only to play the tracks but instead would begin songs, only to have his DJs cut them off, wait several seconds and then begin the track again. Despite doing this more than a few times, the trick never lost its potency, keeping the crowd on their toes and engaged in what was happening onstage.
At about the halfway mark of the show, Bey excited the crowd by asking, rather casually, if the crowd wanted to hear a new, unperformed and unreleased song. Answered by cheers, he told the crowd, “this composition is entitled ‘Sunshine Screwball.’”
He first let the beat run without vocals, then cut the beat, performing the track a cappella. The two were then put together, much to the excitement of the crowd, as the audience got its first taste of the first track from the rapper under the Yasiin Bey moniker. It’s a nonsensical, yet exciting song that shows promise for what is sure to be another excellent studio album from Bey.
After this and a bit of advice from Bey to the younger parts of the crowd (“take things slow, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you”), he performed fan favorites from his older recordings, including the now-classic ”Ms. Fat Booty” and “Mathematics.”
Though this is a fairly predictable flow for a concert, there were more than a few surprises during the show.
Unexpectedly at one point, Bey launched into his own version of the Kanye West & Jay-Z banger, “Ni***s in Paris”, entitled “Ni***s in Poorest.” Bey replaced the lyrics of excess and wealth with social consciousness and political advocacy, touching on issues such as black-on-black violence and health care.
The track was serious, but at the same time, immensely fun to listen to, with the bass pushing the 9:30 club speakers to their limits and getting the crowd to rock and sway.
Bey also surprised the crowd by performing “On the Vista,” a track featured on the album “Blakroc,” for which Bey collaborated with blues-rock duo The Black Keys.
“Didn’t expect this one, did you?” Bey asked the crowd facetiously. “It’s one of my favorites. Shouts out to The Black Keys!”
He concluded the night with a sincere “thanks” before launching into his final song.
“Y’all could have been anywhere in the world tonight, and you were here,” Bey said.
Right before he left the stage, he shook the hands of the members of the front row, making the night of more than a few rabid underground hip-hop fans.
Whether his name is Mos Def, Yasiin Bey or Dante Terrell Smith, what the audience saw from the young performer on Monday night was fantastic.
