Rawkus Records

In October of 1999, Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) released his debut solo album, Black On Both Sides, on Rawkus Records. The album came two years after critical acclaim from the Rawkus-released single "Universal Magnetic"/"If You Can Huh You Can Hear" and one year after the critically acclaimed and commercially successful full-length album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Mos Def's clever wordplay and unique voice and cadence combined with Rawkus' growing reputation as a label dedicated to authentic underground Hip-Hop created quite a buzz for a full-length project by Mos Def.

Ms. Fat Booty

The lead single from Black On Both Sides is "Ms. Fat Booty"/"Mathematics." With its bouncy Aretha Franklin loop, "Ms. Fat Booty" was an instant hit on the underground scene as well as mainstream radio. The Ayatollah-produced song peaked at #20 US Hot Rap Songs on Billboard and #54 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. "Mathematics" is produced by DJ Premier and features his signature boom bap drum patterns, scratches, and sample chops. Mos flips numbers into his socially conscious rhymes with rhymes like "one for Charlie Hustle, two for Steady Rock/three for the forth-coming live future shock/it's five dimensions, six senses/seven firmaments of Heaven to Hell/eight million stories to tell/nine planets faithfully keep in orbit with the probable tenth/the universe expands length the body of my text posses extra strength."

Black On Both Sides

Black On Both Sides contains production by Ayatollah, DJ Premier, Diamond D, 88 Keys, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Psycho Les. The album is musically a combination of sample based production and live instrumentation. Mos Def's Black Star group mate Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip are featured guests on the project, along with singer Vinia Mojica.

On the album intro, "Fear Not Of Men," Mos declares, "Whatever is happening with us is what's happening with Hip-Hop. If we are smoked out, Hip-Hop is smoked out. If we are good, Hip-Hop is good."

"Speed Law," "Hip-Hop," and "Do It Now"(featuring Busta Rhymes) highlight Mos Def's high level lyricism, while "Got" gives him room to flex his storytelling abilities as he describes how not to get robbed.

Highlighting his ability to deliver socially relevant and prophetic lyrics, Mos' "New World Water" chronicled the world's water shortage and pollution a decade and a half before Flint, Michigan's water crisis.

Umi Says

"Umi Says" is Mos Def's biggest and most far-reaching hit. Produced by Mos and David Kennedy, "Umi Says" is vocally a combination of Mos Def's singing and spoken word. "Umi Says" spawned two videos — a traditional version, and one that was a result of Nike and Jordan Brand choosing "Umi Says" as the theme song for a series of Air Jordan commercials. The message of self determination, perseverance and the need for unity contained in the song gained Mos recognition far beyond Hip-Hop.

Black On Both Sides was certified gold in February of 2000, with sales over over 500,000 copies.