It seems like all great MCs have to go through their musical phases.  Nas and Jay-Z did the jiggy thing.  Andre 3000 made a funk album.  Q-Tip became Kamaal the Abstract.  Yet Andre's metamorphosis was so amazingly popular, it changed the way hip-hop is seen. Is any kind of music hip-hop if a hip-hop artist makes it?  Mos Def doesn't seem sure, but his debut, Black on Both Sides, was certainly not your average hip-hop album.  His instant classic was a rap album, but was packed to the brim with rock, soul, & funk influences.  He has officially made his own Love Below (or Electric Circus), though, with The New Danger.

Mos gives no false impressions with his new album, as he begins with the lite-rock "The Boogie Man Song".  It sounds like a 311-knockoff, but is far from unlistenable.  He seems to have found a rock niche with making harmless, unremarkable ballads.  He officially brings the bad news on "Freaky Black Greetings", a rock song so basic and dull, it's almost like elevator music for the 21st century.  He follows this with yet another rock song; however, it's a much better one, as "Ghetto Rock" is the album's non-hip-hop highlight.  The pulsating drums and understated guitar work in Mos' braggadocious anthem.  "Zimzallabim", sadly, is the utterly awful follow-up, more mundane poorly written rock.  He seems to think loud guitars make up for lack of quality.  He then takes his first stab at hip-hop on the album with the Jay-Z jacking "The Rapeover".  While it would be nice to see the Mighty Mos over some original beats, he makes this famous diss song his own, with lines like "All white men is runnin this rap shit... we poke out our asses for a chance to cash in".  "Blue Black Jack" is a tired blues cover, with those same chords you've heard a million times before to represent blues music.  He then mumbles his way through another sad blues imitation on "Bedstuy Parade & Funeral Marc".  He soon begins to his stride though, with the flute-heavy fun of "Sex, Love, & Money".  Although it's the first single, it takes a few listens to become insanely catchy; however, once that listen comes around, you will never get this song out of your head.  Kanye West then provides the excellent production "Sunshine", where Mos's lyrics are far from Black on Both Sides level, but still a breath of fresh (READ: talented) air.  The beat is one of West's best in a year where he's produced more than most beatsmiths make in their entire careers.  His next song was first heard on Chappelle's Show, the Grandmaster Flash-inspired blast of lyricism, "Close Edge".  While the beat is boring, Mos turns in his best lyrics since 1998.  Yet, this taste of hip-hop is short lived.

He tries to make a slow jam, and fails badly, on "The Panties".  He seems to add a Jamaican tinge to his voic when singing to women, and it sounds very unauthentic.  "War" is Mos' try at an anti-war anthem, yet the music is basic funk, and Mos' raps are less than hungry.  When it breaks into rock, it sounds infinitely worse than when he did the same thing on "Rock N Roll" six years ago.  On "Grown Man Business (Fresh Vintage Bottles)", Mos and Minnesota trade average-concious verses over the Alchemist's "No Idea's Original" beat.  Mos then tries his hand at the epic on "Modern Marvel", and finally succeeds.  His psuedo-cover of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" is an introspective, beautiful piece of brilliance.  He finally seems at home and not just badly experimenting, and the length of the song (9:20!) breezes by.  On "Life is Real", he shows off the rapping skills once again, where he basically does a song that wouldn't sound out of place on his Black Star partner Talib Kweli's album.  "The Easy Spell", though, is a sad Lenny Kravitz-like modern rock song.  His rap verses on it sound utterly out of place, and his come-ons are far les inspired then they sounded on his classic "Ms. Fat Booty".  "The Begger" is where he finally gets back into that niche of lite rock, yet the drums are here are not your average-Clear Channel material. His singing at the end sounds genuinely heartfelt, instead of just a man screaming.  He finally ends the album, after 17 previous songs, on the blasting "Champion Requiem", which sounds like a song which should have began the album.  It sounds like a comeback anthem, yet it's unfortunately placed at the end of the album.  Well, as the saying goes, better late than never.

While it may not be the real hip-hop sophmore album his fans were hoping for, and it may not be the consistent funk of Andre 3000's last effort, The New Danger is Mos' album.  This is what he wanted to make.  It may have at times sounded basic and sadly simple, but this is an album Mos Def wanted to make, an album on his own terms.  While that can be comended, it certainly isn't enough to make someone listen. Mos may have went too far with this one, making a bloated, mostly non-hip-hop, utterly selfish album, but it's high points remind the listener why he was ever hailed as the underground's golden boy in the first place.

iPod Worthy: "Modern Marvel", "Sunshine", "Close Edge", "Ghetto Rock", "Life is Real"

Skippable: "Zimzallabim", "Freaky Black Greetings", "Bedstuy Parade & Funeral Marc", "Blue Black Jack", "The Easy Spell"

Overall: 4 out of Six Shots