Mos Def's The Ecstatic hits stores June 9. It has been over three years since his last album True Magic. Ecstatic is jammed packed with 16 creative tracks, that's right 16 tracks. A few however lasting one and a half minutes to a little over two minutes. These particular tracks or "snippets" will definitely have you nodding your head and wanting more.

Production courtesy of Madlib and his brother Oh No is smooth, beats-tight and Mos' lyrics hot as usual. Much of the album has a familiar sound that use to rock underground clubs not too long ago. Solid tracks include ''Quiet Dog Bite Hard'', ''Life in Marvelous Times'', the first single ''Casa Bey'' and ''Auditorium'' featuring Slick Rick guaranteed to get played multiple times.

On ''Roses'', Mos collaborates with Georgia Anne Muldrow best known for her melodically free form singing. While a mini Black Star reunion with Talib Kweli takes place on ''History''- could a Black Star album be in the works? We can only hope so as the track displays how much hip hop is in need. Mos Def sings on quite a few tracks but in some cases its not really needed (please see track numbers 10, 11 and 12). Although not bad the tracks being back to back kind of slows down the flow of the album.

Overall its solid and will probably be rated as one of the best hip hop albums this year. Mos Def fans will not be disappointed.

SonicAmp Rating: 8/10