JoshCast #26 - Fear Not Of Man

I am a pale individual. I’m no Hank Hill, but yeah, I admit that Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Beatles, and Pearl Jam compose a very significant portion of my iTunes library. But that doesn’t mean I can’t occasionally love me some hip-hop. ...uh, right?

Well, a few months ago, after a little nudge from Pandora, I bought Black on Both Sides, Mos Def’s solo debut from waaay back last MILLENIUM in 1999. That was a good decision. It’s always been perfect for when I need to get psyched up for something. Plus, it’s not without socially conscious commentary.

While "Mathematics" is almost certainly the track most people have heard of, I frequently find myself flipping back to Track 1, "Fear Not of Man". It sounds good, for one (although I’m not going to pretend to understand the dynamics of hip-hop enough to analyze why), and its lyrics resonate more to me than, say, Jay-Z’s "Big Pimpin'".

Especially: "Mind over matter and soul before flesh". Simple. Only seven words. But that’s enough... maybe brevity is the soul of wisdom, too.

OK, I’m getting too deep. On to music: