Sex, Love & Money / Ghetto Rock

This EP is the prelude to Mos Def’s sophomore album, The New Danger, a sprawling piece of work that pulls from heavy metal, funk, jazz, and hip-hop. The thread that ties these two songs together is rhythm. The tracks are tribally propulsive, echoing the drum circles of Africa while also hearkening back to the skeletal booms of early Run-DMC and Schoolly D. “Ghetto Rock” rolls forward on a militaristic stomp, reminiscent of Jay-Z’s “The Take Over” (which Mos coincidentally remakes as “The Rap Over” on The New Danger). “Sex, Drugs & Money” would be equally suitable for a troupe of breakdancers or an explosive college marching band. The rhythm falls somewhere in between a shuffle and a stomp as Mos calls out come-ons to a make-believe cutie: “I hit the streets easy in my seat / Lighting on my feet breezy like the evening — bam!” While the single only hints at the multi-faceted escapades of The New Danger, it perfectly summarizes the album’s theme: old-school credential meets uproarious innovation.