- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Everything about this album is half-assed: From the bafflingly bare packaging to the at-times miserable mix, True Magic is a mess.
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A Wu-Tangy darkness permeates the whole album, which is cluttered with gems both musical (live sax and jazz flute) and lyrical.
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Mos Def’s third album is worth a careful listen: it’s not a happy record, and there are few, if any, genius rhymes. But it speaks volumes about the frustration and resignation of the underprivileged.
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The beautiful mess of Mos Def makes for a bumpy listen.
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Quite possibly the worst record by a great emcee in recent memory.
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Entertainment WeeklyA large chunk is bogged down by extended outros and lyrical inanities. [19 Jan 2007, p.81]
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Mos Def sounds positively lifeless and distant.
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The New York TimesMos Def may not be flossy or raw at this stage in his celebrated career, which is fine. But what he offers instead is lukewarm nostalgia and obligatory indignation. [8 Jan 2007]
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BillboardLike its predecessor, the equally undercooked "The New Danger," there is a sense that a deadline crawled up before the music was cemented. [13 Jan 2007]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 15 out of 21
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Mixed: 3 out of 21
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Negative: 3 out of 21
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Dec 30, 2012
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Apr 19, 2012
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EdApr 20, 2007