MT&V: Jesse West X Mos Def

Jesse West "No Prisoners" © 1989 Motown Records

It’s kind of wild to think of the time when Motown was putting out militant black rappers.  Not just any militant black rapper either.  A spitting image for Malcolm X himself.  When was that again?  Well around 1988 to be precise.  

I think I first heard “No Prisoners” on a Lord Finesse mixtape.  Finesse loved to juggle lines from songs and I remember specifically him juggling the line “Some try but they still can’t get it right.”  Public Enemy was fresh at the time and as with any new trend there were a lot of attempts by labels to cash in. West really stood out for my ears, as more than an ‘attempt’, it was just raw.  His voice cuts through almost sinister as the beat taunts you, “And if your mama don’t like it than to hell with her to!”

Production would keep West in the game for a minute, and is worth noting here.  The taunting feel of the song is reinforced by a little piano line that keeps coming in. This same line perked my ears some twenty years later when I was checking out Mos Def’s new album.  On the Chad Hugo (from the Neptunes) produced track “Twilite Speedball” that same line shows up during the drop with almost the exact same affect.  You can almost see Mos’ face drop into that “peep this” smile as he leads in to another onslaught on the mic.

As a bonus here’s a little Mos Def Promo from the Black on Both Sides era.

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