Mos Def Loves Fucked Up

05/13/09 12:42pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Rapper Mos Def is a big Fucked Up fan.

Mos Def (real name Dante Terrell Smith) recently wrote an article for the New York Times about what he's listening to, and though the article couldn't name Fucked Up — the photo caption states "band with an unprintable name" — it refers to their recently released The Chemistry Of Common Life.

"You know how you hear something and you just relate?" Mos Def wrote. "They rock. I like the title of their album too."

Mos Def, whose The Ecstatic comes out on June 9, says he stumbled upon Fucked Up through the internet, was intrigued by their name and soon found out they're what he calls "raw" but "elegant," and "intelligent, hardcore rock."

He goes on to compare them to Minor Threat, Bad Brains and Fugazi (the members of Fucked Up have huge grins on their faces somewhere) and says he listens to them on the road a lot. He even has an ideal time to put their record on.

"A lazy Sunday is a good time to listen to them. I would chill out to this music, read a book like [George Orwell's] Animal Farm and listen to this."

Animal Farm suits Fucked Up due to the subject matter of some of their lyrics, but a lazy Sunday with a book? Really?

Fucked Up vocalist Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham's wife gave birth to their first child, a boy named Holden Ford Abraham, on April 30. You can see the proud papa and his son here.

Mos Def will play Los Angeles' House Of Blues on May 14 and will appear at the Sasquatch! Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash. on May 23.

Baby or not, Abraham will soon be back on the road with Fucked Up. You can see them here:

May 29 Barcelona, Spain @ Parc Del Forum (Primavera Sound Festival)
June 25 Doncaster, England @ The Priory Club
June 27 Evreux, France @ Hippodrome (Rock Dans Tous Les Etats Festival)
June 28 Cherbourg, France @ L'Epicentre
June 29 Brussels, Belgium @ VK
June 30 Leffinge, Belgium @ De Zwerver
July 1 Messancy, Luxembourg @ TBA
July 2 Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
July 3 Munster, Germany @ Vainstream Rockfest
July 4 Paris, France @ Le Nouveau Casino
July 5 Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Zuiderpark (Metropolis Festival)
July 12 Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront w/Mission Of Burma and Ponytail
July 16 Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre w/Women and Vivian Girls
July 18 Chicago, IL @ Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival)