Nobody likes to talk about how badly Mos Def fell off...

[everlast1986]

I read that Madlib and Oh No are going to be producing his next album so it will probably be no bullshit.

[D-e-f-]

I never considered Mos to have fallen off. I loved new danger and true magic as well.

what I really liked about TND and TM was that he put his soul into the music with his singin in between and I even enjoyed the rock-influenced songs with the band on new danger.

It's good when artists try something fresh

[BLaZaY]

someone hook up true magic, havent heard anything off of it

[The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES]

He barely rapped on black on both sides and so the bigger question to me is why he was so revered in the first place. Don't get me wrong I am not saying he was a bad rapper but he was nothing special he just happened to be on a label (ruckus) which stood out from the crowd at the time. Of course the fact that daddy murdoch's money helped promote the label brought him to more recognition also.

I don't get your post, I need further explanation to nearly everything you said.

He say on the blackstar album he didn't rap alot and it was mostly Kweli that made that album.  But Mos got alot of props for it.  Plus he was on a label that had a good positive buzz with lots of money to promote him (and they did.)

In total, Mos is a bit overrated.

[Turf Hitta]

This dude was holdin down conscious hip-hop from 98-2001 and then he started thinking he was a rock artist or something and stopped making good music.  He seems to have lost his touch.

In the late 90's he was a part of two of the greatest conscious hip-hop albums ever.. his first solo album and the joint he did with Talib Kweli.  He was also on fire with all his guest appearances, freestyles, etc... proof of this is tracks like "Oh No" he did with Phaorah Monch and Nate Dogg.   

As a person I still love and admire Mos Def.. but as a rapper, how come nobody talks about how hard this dude fell off? 

He did fall all the way the fuck off, and personally I liked his rock shit and I aint even into that type of music. But I'd rather not speculate on why he fell off, I'd rather just remember that he made one of the best rap albums of the 90's and not expect him to do it again. He wouldn't be the first rapper to fall off after a classic (BIG, Nas until about  2002, etc)

[dubsmith_nz]

he was killing it with Blackstar and Black on Both Sides, fell off hard though I reckon. He can still shine on the occasional verse but cant remember the last time I heard a solo track by Mos that I banged more than a few times

[Kill]

It's good when artists try something fresh

Basically, yeah. But not every crossover attempt ends up being "Walk This Way"

[virtuoso]

Black on both sides didn't contain all that much actual rapping (save for half a dozen songs)
He gained attention because he was on rawkus records
Rawkus Records was run by Murdoch's son I believe
Having Murdoch money meant there was lots of cash to spend on promoting the name of the label

Using Oh No as a centre piece for Mos Def's talent isn't going to get far he was average on that track. Monch ripped his verse to pieces and in doing so made Def's verse very bland. Were it not for Mos Def being promoted as one of the "conscious" rappers no one would really care about him.

[Turf Hitta]

Black on both sides didn't contain all that much actual rapping (save for half a dozen songs)
He gained attention because he was on rawkus records
Rawkus Records was run by Murdoch's son I believe
Having Murdoch money meant there was lots of cash to spend on promoting the name of the label

Using Oh No as a centre piece for Mos Def's talent isn't going to get far he was average on that track. Monch ripped his verse to pieces and in doing so made Def's verse very bland. Were it not for Mos Def being promoted as one of the "conscious" rappers no one would really care about him.

You're trippin. Black On Both Sides = Classic.