New Mos Def Album Set For February

Mos Def will release his Downtown debut, "The Ecstatic," on Feb. 9, Billboard.com can reveal. The first single, "Life in Marvelous Times," will hit iTunes as an exclusive on Nov. 4. 

The veteran rapper's last album, "Tru3 Magic," barely made a ripple upon its late 2006 release via Geffen and has sold just 93,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its predecessor, 2004's "The New Danger," has sold 484,000. 

Mos Def will be on the road starting Oct. 31 in Prague with the European installment of the Rock the Bells tour, alongside Nas, De La Soul, EPMD and the Pharcyde, among others. 

On the acting front, the artist plays Chuck Berry in the film "Cadillac Records," due Dec. 5 in U.S. theaters.