Mos Def has been, for quite some time now, an industry unto himself. He acts, writes, and raps. And even while he’s second on the bill while touring with DOOM this go round, the legacy that the Brooklyn born emcee is in the middle of creating is going to last well beyond what most of us are capable of conceiving.

So even while The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might have just been an average piece of entertainment, Mos’ last album was received well enough as to find the multi-talented guy on a steady trajectory up.

A professor of mine, at one time, said that folks who claim that artists are ahead of their times are full of crap. No one can be ahead of time. It’s impossible. What creative people need to strive for is to perfectly represent the present for posterity. That endeavor can take various forms. And considering the fact that the present is ever shifting, the attempt to document it might appear almost futile.

The thing is Mos Def has been rendering his various present moments in recordings since 1994. And that’s pretty impressive.

Even before the emcee got on the mic alongside De La Soul, Mos Def was making a name for himself in an ensemble dubbed Urban Thermo Dynamics. Younger sister Ces, and Mos’ brother D.C.Q. rounded out the trio, but it was immediately clear who was the central figure.

Coming close to overtaking the entire affair, though, is Ces. Each verse that she gets out is readily gruff and commanding. There’s not too much of a soft side portrayed in her contrasting contemporary acts like Digable Planets. Tracks like “Hardcore Nights” make Ces’ perspective on life clear. “Don’t mistake me for a bitch just ‘cause I’m a female,” she barks. It’s a point that gets driven home while the emcee sporadically mentions weaponry.

As interesting as the topic is considering later lyrical stuffs from Mos Def, the track’s simply intended to explain how things actually occur. And while that’s a sentiment rife with cliché, that’s how it goes. Beyond all of that, though, is the fact that Mos’ delivery at the time wasn’t quite what it would become. Not that the rhyming talents weren’t already firmly in place, but there’s a pronounced dancehall inflection that can become troublesome at points. Of course, that’s directly tied to KRS-One and other like minded emcees with Jamaican backgrounds, but comes off as clumsy while being utilized here.

The best known track represented on Urban Thermo Dynamics’ lone long player, “My Kung Fu,” finds Mos Def crooning. It’s an approach he still makes use of today to various effect. So on this first installment of Mos’ recording career, there’re pieces in place that would make him what he is today, but also some aspects to his performance that he’d eventually shed.

Considering the fact that the album wasn’t actually released until a decade after its recording didn’t impact Mos’ career. But it should make folks wonder what happened to Ces and D.C.Q.