NUMBER 2: SKI BEATZ ft. MOS DEF AND WHOSANE - “TAXI” - UNRELEASED

If Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was the next logical step in hip-pop and a firm engraining of hip-hop’s aesthetics and production sensibilities in wider popular music, then consider what Ski Beatz, Mos Def and Whosane created with “Taxi” as a distillation of rap music taken in it’s other logical direction. That is to say, as an extension of spoken word poetry. MCs have used rap music to tell narratives before, certainly, but I don’t know that I’ve ever been moved or touched by sentimentality by rap music in the way that “Taxi” manages to get to me.

This is more or less a reiteration of the blog post that I did about this song earlier this summer, but I don’t feel any different about the song now and it’s still relevant for the same reasons: Mos Def (and to a lesser extent Whosane) are honest to goodness poets on this track and talk about a decay of love and relationships with a more tender heart than rappers generally bring to their music. Mos Def open’s his verse, “Engarde / bang bang it’s a war of the hearts / we could either make love or we could spar / either way we hollerin’ out ‘good lord / either one won’t solve the problem at all / spend the first half tryin’ to get it on / spent the next half tryin’ to get gone/ ‘what’s wrong’ / ‘nothing at all’”. In a genre that’s as concerned with cred and character, Mos’ delivery of such tender lines is critical and he delivers his verse with an air that’s absolutely stoic.

What seals the deal though, is the track’s synergy between producer and MC. Ski Beatz turns in a gorgeous beat that snips and cuts a joyful soul sample until it sounds mostly cold and detached. There’s a warmth in the original sample that’s trying to poke through but is only allowed to peak out for brief moments. Underneath Mos Def and Whosane’s reflections, it ends up sounding like the beat itself is reminiscing – a happy memory that may be too painful to completely remember.

The shame in all of this is that “Taxi” was never official released. Ski Beatz’ 24 Hour Karate School mixtape was repeatedly delayed this year as it mutated from a free mixtape to an officially released commercial product and somewhere along the line Mos Def’s license holders prevented this track and others from making the final album. By the time Karate School finally hit the shelves it was a shell of what it was supposed to be. It’s a shame, but “Taxi” is easy enough to seek out. Here’s hoping for more Ski Beatz and Mos Def collaborations in the future.

BONUS: When 24 Hour Karate School was still going to be a free mixtape, “Taxi” was actually used in a pretty cool teaser clip on the Creative Control website. It’s since been removed from their site but you can watch it here. And really, there’s a lot of cool stuff too see at Creative Control.

2010 Top 10:

2) “Taxi” - Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def and Whosane

3) “Hang With Me” - Robyn

4) “CMYK” - James Blake

5) “Trouble Comes Running” - Spoon

6) “Odessa” - Caribou

7) “Blame Game” - Kanye West ft. John Legend

8) “Tightrope” - Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi

9) “Desire Lines” - Deerhunter

10) “Your Sweet Boom” - Jamie Lidell