Mos Def inspires, energizes audience

By Maggie Beidelman

So Von is no black metal band, Mickey Avalon has personal strippers and Mos Def knows how to step up the beat.

The concert in Leavey Center Monday night turned up many surprises -- some pleasant, some borderline nauseating.

Many concert-goers of the approximately 2,000-person crowd formerly mistook the opening band, Von, to be the rhythmless black metal band of the same name. Turns out these friends of Mos Def make up a rather talented group consisting of an impressive rapper backed by the strong beat of drums and bass and the unique melodies of trumpet, cello and keyboard. Their upbeat, crowd-friendly performance ushered the audience into a night of engaging and artistic entertainment.

That is, until Mickey Avalon strutted onstage after his cliché introduction to Toni Basil's "Mickey" song. What Avalon lacked in talent (no small sum), he tried to make up for with the distraction of excessively lewd strip dancers and prerecorded backup vocals.

It didn't work.

Neither did taking off his shirt to reveal his low-rise jeans and a large "Thank You" tattoo stretched across his abdomen.

The single crowd-acknowledged song of Avalon -- whose lyrics often reflect his experiences with drugs and prostitution in his hometown of Hollywood -- was "Jane Fonda."

One might question Avalon's intentions when listening to the lyrics from another song he tried to rap: "I like a girl with caked-up makeup â?¦ the best piece of ass in this whole damn city. So rich, so pretty." So from Hollywood. "I like a girl who eats and brings it up. A sassy little frassy with bulimia." Seriously?

Avalon could probably learn a few things from his superior, Eminem, like how not to get "chewed up and spit out and booed offstage" during his own encore.

Accredited rapper Mos Def, however, proved to be a proper entertainer in his diverse exhibition of musical styles. The audience response was instantly enthusiastic, and not just because Mickey Avalon had left the premises.

Opening with a ballad-like song showed the fact that not only can Mos Def rap and act, but he can actually sing, too. The crowd moved as a whole, bumping to the undeniably invigorating beat not by will, but by the sheer power of the music. He would sing at various other points during the show, including his hit "Umi Says" toward the end.

A true artist of musical compilation, Mos Def fused the influences of different styles, combining funk, jazz, reggae and soul in his own originals and re-mixed beats that he rapped over. Setting the mood for the evening, he also played a few of his favorite songs for the crowd to enjoy, including Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?"

Mos Def also did some capella singing, played the keyboard and freestyled, reinvigorating the audience that began to thin toward the end of the night.

Born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, 33-year-old Mos Def is often recognized for his socially conscious lyrics. "I'm gonna change the world, it starts with me," he freestyled.

Heavily featured in the show were songs from "The New Danger," his second of three solo albums (the most recent titled "True Magic"). The song "The Rape Over," a parody of Jay-Z's battle track, "The Takeover," elicited laughs and cheers from the crowd.

In "Napoleon Dynamite," Mos Def rapped about dissatisfaction with the political system: "This is for the emperor, his subjects and his dogs -- fuck them all."

The song continues: "Hand over head and the sticky red is seepin' â?¦ little homey onlooker shout, 'He ain't gon' make it!' The moment where bullies find God." His lyrics, drenched with truth, inspire contemplation among his listeners.

Even more striking was Mos Def's mid-set chant, "End the war, end the war now," which, in today's world, can be considered a plea, a demand, or both.

Mos Def has been rapping and acting since age nine. His acting career has recently taken off, as evidenced by his appearance in "The Italian Job," a Best Actor award in the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his performance in "The Woodsman," and recent appearances on "Chappelle's Show." Mos Def is next scheduled to appear in "Toussaint," a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, which is scheduled to begin filming within the next month.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.