These last few years haven't been easy, listening to rap and rock sniff each other out a bit in the interest of "coming together."

The list of travesties along the way goes on too long: Limp Bizkit, Chuck D's rock band, Vanilla Ice's new version of "Ice Ice Baby." But forget all that. Somebody finally made a great rap-rock album.

Who would've guessed it'd be Mos Def?

Brooklyn's finest, the underground sensation, the mighty Mos and his band Black Jack Johnson have finally figured out a way for rap and rock to coexist: Get a real rapper to front a real band. Too often, weak MCs or talent-less thrash-metal nobodies were the ones calling the shots for rap-rock.

The New Danger is a near masterpiece, a hard-rocking, blues-infused hip-hop record that owes as much to Bad Brains as it does to Run DMC. Mos pits himself against distorted guitars and Kanye West production with equal comfort, and the result is a perfect pastiche of rap culture and metal edge.

Mos remains one of the best lyricists in the game, but he's clearly not interested in making another hip-hop record like Black on Both Sides, his near-classic 1999 solo debut. He just wants to push things forward, and with The New Danger, he does just that.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have yet another bona fide genius on the mic, and his name is Mos Def.

There might be better albums this year, but The New Danger is the coolest.

--by Paul Thompson