Black on Both Sides

Black on Both Sides
Studio album by Mos Def
Released	October 12, 1999
Genre	Hip hop
Length	71:21
Label	Rawkus Priority
Producer	Mos Def (also exec.) Diamond D Ge-ology 88-Keys DJ Premier Ayatollah D Prosper Ali Shaheed Muhammad Psycho Les DJ Etch-A-Sketch David Kennedy
Mos Def chronology
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998) Black on Both Sides (1999) The New Danger (2004)
Singles from Black on Both Sides
"Ms. Fat Booty" / "Mathematics" Released: August 2, 1999 "Umi Says" Released: 2000

Black on Both Sides is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Mos Def, released on October 12, 1999, by Rawkus and Priority Records.

Released after his successful collaboration Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Black on Both Sides emphasizes live instrumentation and socially conscious lyrics.

On February 2, 2000, the album was certified Gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), following sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

Music

Production

The album features a mix between established and rising producers. DJ Premier provides the instrumental track for "Mathematics". Diamond D is credited for "Hip Hop". Ali Shaheed Muhammad, known mostly as a member of A Tribe Called Quest, produced the seventh song "Got". Psycho Les of The Beatnuts produced "New World Water" and "Rock N Roll". Jazz legend Weldon Irvine provided additional production to "Climb".

Ayatollah produced "Ms. Fat Booty" and "Know That". 88-Keys produced "Love" and "Speed Law" and co-produced the instrumental outro "May–December" with Mos Def himself. David Kennedy (the second swing of "Brooklyn" and "Umi Says" produced with Mos Def), Mr. Khaliyl ("Do It Now"), DJ Etch-A-Sketch ("Climb" and "Habitat"), Ge-ology (The first swing of "Brooklyn") and D. Prosper ("Mr. Nigga") round out the other contributors.

Mos received production assistance on most of the album's tracks. His sole production credit comes at "Fear Not of Man", but he provided additional production to four tracks ("Hip Hop", "Rock N Roll", "Climb" and "Mr. Nigga") and co-produced three ("Umi Says", "Brooklyn" and "May–December").

Early versions

On the song "Brooklyn", a three-movement piece dedicated to Mos's neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, Mos rhymes three verses over three different beats. The first beat is an original composition produced by Ge-ology, while the second verse is a re-creation Smif-N-Wessun's "Home Sweet Home" and the last verse is set to the instrumental track of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1995 single "Who Shot Ya?". Originally, Mos rhymed three complete verses over Ge-ology's musical composition, now referred to as the first movement of the song. On a later version, the first and third verses are set to the instrumentals of two other 1995 New York rap hits, "Incarcerated Scarfaces" by Raekwon as well as "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)" by Mobb Deep, respectively. The "Who Shot Ya?" verse, with the same vocal take on the released version, is placed in the middle. Mos Def sings his own interpretation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge".

Video

Mos Def was involved with two videos for Umi Says. One was more traditional, while the second one came when Nike and Jordan Brand chose "Umi Says" as its theme song for its Much Respect series of commercials for the Air Jordan XVI. As a result, the second video features appearances from Michael Finley, Eddie Jones, Derek Jeter, Roy Jones Jr., Ray Allen and even Michael Jordan himself.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−
Entertainment Weekly	A−
Muzik
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	8.7/10
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
The Source	4/5
Spin	10/10

Black on Both Sides received universal acclaim from critics. Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly praised the album's diversity and noted, "Merging old-school bravado with new-school poetics, the Brooklyn legend spouts incisive Afrocentric reality that takes all sides into account." Dan Leroy of Yahoo! Music opined that "Not since Rakim's heyday has a mic-rocker so clearly articulated such complex and entertaining thoughts, with the ability to wax eloquently on matters metaphysical ('Love') and just plain physical ('Ms. Fat Booty')" and hailed the album as "a sure pick as one of the year's best."

The Independent lauded the record's "sharp reflections on a range of subjects from parochialism to pollution, fear to fat booties, rap to rock 'n' roll" and wrote that Black on Both Sides "stands as a proud example of the heights hip-hop can achieve when its exponents put their minds to it." The Village Voice's Robert Christgau wrote that while he felt the album ran too long, "the wealth of good-hearted reflection and well-calibrated production overwhelms one's petty objections". In a retrospective review, Charles Aaron of Spin described Mos Def as a "restless B-Boy citizen of the world" and called the album "playful, witty, and heart-pounding."

Track listing

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} The song consists of three distinct movements. The first one was produced by Ge-ology, the second by David Kennedy and Mos Def, and the third one by Mos Def

Sample credits

• "Fear Not of Man" contains samples of "Fear Not for Man", performed by Fela Kuti, and "Morgenspaziergang" by Kraftwerk.
• "Hip Hop" contains samples of "The Warnings (Part II)", performed by David Axelrod; and "Slow Dance" by Stanley Clarke.
• "Love" contains a sample of "Porgy (I Loves You, Porgy)", performed by Bill Evans Trio.
• "Ms. Fat Booty" contains a sample of "One Step Ahead", performed by Aretha Franklin.
• "Speed Law" contains samples of "And That's Saying a Lot", performed by Christine McVie; and "Promise Her Anything but Give Her Arpeggio", performed by Big Brother & the Holding Company.
• "Do It Now" contains a sample of "Marcus Garvey", performed by Burning Spear.
• "Rock N Roll" contains a sample of "Memphis at Sunrise", performed by Bar-Kays.
• "Know That" contains a sample of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", performed by Dionne Warwick.
• "Brooklyn" contains samples of "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?", performed by Milt Jackson, "We Live in Brooklyn, Baby", performed by Roy Ayers, and "Who Shot Ya?", performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
• "Habitat" contains a sample of "Hard To Handle", performed by Otis Redding.
• "Mr. Nigga" contains a sample of "A Legend in His Own Mind", performed by Gil-Scott Heron.
• "Mathematics" contains samples of "Baby I'm-a Want You", performed by The Fatback Band, "On & On", performed by Erykah Badu, "Funky Drummer", performed by James Brown, and a clip of Art Seigner interviewing Angela Davis.
• "May–December" contains a sample of "Jungle Jazz", performed by Kool & the Gang; and a sample of "Rock Your Baby", performed by KC & the Sunshine Band.

Personnel

• Mos Def – executive producer, bass (1-2, 10, 17), congas (1, 15), percussion (1, 15), keyboards (2), drums (10), strings arrangement (12), vibraphone (17)
• Weldon Irvine – keyboards (1), strings arrangement (12), piano (17)
• David Kennedy – recording engineer (2-6, 14), mixing engineer (2-6, 14)
• Etch-A-Sketch – scratches (2)
• Shaka – executive producer

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	56
US Billboard 200	25
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	3
US Billboard Top Rap Albums	1

Singles

Year	Title	US R&B	US Rap	UK
1999	"Ms. Fat Booty"	54	20	—
2000	"Umi Says"	—	—	60

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.