Somewhere between The New Danger and his acting career, I fell out of love with Mos Def.

Black on Both Sides was such a certified classic that I wanted so badly to like The New Danger, an album in which Mos was clearly to make some sort of lofty artistic statement (but only he knew what that really was). I thought maybe if just I kept the album in my iTunes library it would somehow reveal itself to me. Alas, its fate rested in the digital trash can. And who the hell knows what was going on with True Magic … I barely blinked when that came out.

So with my interest in Mos at an unfortunate all-time low, I mustered just enough strength to check out the tracks from his forthcoming album The Ecstatic (due out June 9). (I’d already wasted my time watching Something the Lord Made, so what’s another few minutes?) I’m happy to report that this (so far) sounds like what should have been the follow-up to Black on Both Sides. I’m not ready coronate Mos again, but the three tracks released have me somewhat hopeful.

Check the new video for Casa Bey below: