Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Blackstar Review

1998 studio album past Blackness Star

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Studio album by Black Star
Released	September 29, 1998
Recorded	September 1997 – May 1998
Studio	Unique Recording (New York)[i]
Genre	Alternative hip hop[2] conscious rap[3] cloak-and-dagger hip hop[iv] progressive rap[five]
Length	50:11
Label	Rawkus, Priority, EMI, MCA, Universal
Producer	Shawn J. Period, Hello-Tek, Ge-ology, 88-Keys, J. Rawls, Da Beatminerz
Mos Def chronology
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998) Black on Both Sides (1999)
Talib Kweli chronology
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Blackness Star (1998) Railroad train of Thought (2000)
Singles from Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Blackness Star
"Definition" Released: Baronial 26, 1998 "Respiration" Released: February 23, 1999

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (oft called simply Black Star ^{[6] [7]}) is the debut studio album by Black Star, a hip hop duo consisting of emcees Talib Kweli and Mos Def (the latter of whom now goes past Yasiin Bey). The album was released on September 29, 1998, to critical acclaim. The title is a reference to the Black Star Line, a aircraft line founded by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey. The album deals with modernistic-twenty-four hours issues, philosophical ideas, and life in Brooklyn, New York City as the two artists know it.^[8]

Background [edit]

The album's fruition came almost from the chemical science between the ii emcees. Both planned to release their solo albums around the aforementioned time, but they postponed their private projects and decided instead to collaborate on a full-length LP. The album'due south encompass was designed by artist Brent Rollins.^[9]

Music and lyrics [edit]

Mos Def (left) and Talib Kweli (right) in 1999

The tardily jazz musician Weldon Irvine played the keys on the album'due south opening song, "Astronomy," which interprets the word "blackness" in a positive way, and contains similes such as "Blackness, like my babe girl's hair". The next vocal, and get-go single, "Definition", is a stern response to hip hop's fascination with death, and a dedication to slain emcees Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.Yard. As the chorus goes, "One two three/Mos Def and Talib Kweli/We came to rock it on to the tip top/Best alliance in hip hop, Y-O/I said, ane two three/It's kinda dangerous to be a MC/They shot 2Pac and Biggie/Likewise much violence in hip hop, Y-O". The chorus is likewise a play on Boogie Downward Productions' anti-gun vocal "Cease the Violence", as well as "Remix For P Is Free" from their album Criminal Minded. "Children'due south Story" is a re-imagined version of Slick Rick's original, which features Mos Def cautioning overly materialistic pursuits.^{[ citation needed ]}

"Chocolate-brown-Peel Lady" is an appreciating tribute to brown-skinned women. The vocal encourages black and brownish women to be proud of their hair and complexion, and to non be influenced by Western beauty standards. Kweli rhymes, "We're not dealin' with the European standard of beauty tonight/Turn off the TV and put the magazine away/Look in the mirror tell me what yous see/I meet the evidence of divine presence."^{[ citation needed ]}

"Thieves in the Night" was inspired by writer Toni Morrison'south novel The Bluest Heart.^{[10] [xi]} In the anthology's liner notes, Kweli explains that the paragraph "struck me as one of the truest critiques of our society, and I read that in high school when I was 15 years old. I recollect it is especially truthful in the world of hip hop, because we get blinded by these illusions." The excerpt interpolated in the song is equally follows: "And fantasy information technology was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; nosotros were not free, merely licensed; we were not empathetic, we were polite; not expert but well-behaved. We courted expiry in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life." And the version on the runway: "Non stiff, only aggressive/Not gratuitous, we simply licensed/Not compassionate, only polite (now who the nicest?)/Non practiced but well-behaved/Chasin' afterward death so we could phone call ourselves brave, still livin' like mental slaves/Hiding like thieves in the night from life/Illusions of haven making you await twice."^{[ citation needed ]}

Critical reception [edit]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
Amusement Weekly	A−[14]
Muzik	[fifteen]
NME	eight/ten[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[18]
The Source	3.5/5[19]
Spin	10/x[20]
The Village Voice	A−[21]

Black Star was voted the 24th best album of 1998 in the Pazz & Jop, a poll of American critics nationwide published annually by The Village Vocalization.^[22] Robert Christgau, the poll'southward creator, wrote in a contemporary review that Mos Def and Talib Kweli "devise a hip hop imaginary where hater players lose their girls-not-bitches to MCs and then disinterested they requite 'em right back. The rhymes are the selling point. But the subculture that cares most virtually these words is what yous'll come dorsum to."^[21] According to Encyclopedia of Pop Music writer Colin Larkin, the album abandoned "the negativity of gangsta rap" in favor of "a highly intelligent and searching examination of black culture, harking back to the classic era of rap epitomized by Public Enemy and KRS-One. The anthology's thin, hard-hitting rhythms were as well in marked comparison to the overblown productions of Puff Daddy, which dominated the rap mainstream."^[13]

Track listing [edit]

No.	Championship	Producer(s)	Length
i.	"Intro"	Hi-Tek; co-produced by Talib Kweli	1:eleven
2.	"Astronomy (8th Calorie-free)" (featuring Weldon Irvine)	Da Beatminerz	3:23
iii.	"Definition"	Hello-Tek	iii:26
4.	"Re: Definition"	Hi-Tek	iii:02
5.	"Children's Story"	Shawn J. Menses	3:32
6.	"Brown Skin Lady"	J. Rawls	5:46
vii.	"B Boys Will Be Boys"	Ge-ology	2:36
viii.	"K.O.Due south. (Determination)" (featuring Vinia Mojica)	Hi-Tek	4:49
9.	"Hater Players"	Shawn J. Period	4:08
x.	"Yo Yeah"	J. Rawls; co-produced past Talib Kweli	ane:10
11.	"Respiration" (featuring Common)	How-do-you-do-Tek	6:05
12.	"Thieves in the Nighttime"	88-Keys	5:xvi
13.	"Twice Inna Lifetime" (featuring Jane Doe, Wordsworth, and Punchline)	Hi-Tek	5:38

Samples [edit]

• Intro contains a sample of Cannonball Adderley speaking, taken from an interlude from his alive album Music You All
• Definition contains a sample, and interpolation from "The P Is Free" by Boogie Down Productions
• Definition contains an interpolation of the chorus in "Cease the Violence" by Boogie Down Productions
• Children'due south Story contains an interpolation of "Children'southward Story" by Slick Rick
• Brown Pare Lady begins with a sample from the film Chameleon Street
• Brown Peel Lady contains a sample from "We Almost Lost Detroit" by Gil-Scott Heron and Brian Jackson
• B Boys Will B Boys contains an interpolation of "Stoop Rap" by Footling Rodney C and K.1000. Rockwell from the film Wild Style
• 1000.O.South. (Determination) contains a sample from "Babe, This Beloved I Have" past Minnie Riperton
• Respiration contains a sample from "The Fox" past Don Randi
• Respiration contains a sample from the moving-picture show Style Wars
• Yo Yep uses a sample from the track "Downlo Ho" by Scientifik

Anthology singles [edit]

Single data
"Definition" Released: August 26, 1998 B-side: "Twice Inna Lifetime" (featuring Jane Doe, Punchline & Wordsworth)
"Respiration" (featuring Common) Released: February 23, 1999 B-side: "Respiration (Flying High Mix)"

Personnel [edit]

• Hello-Tek – Producer, Cut, Oversupply Dissonance
• Weldon Irvine – Keyboards, performer
• Jim Godsey – Engineer
• Charlie Mack – Engineer
• Kieran Walsh – Engineer, Mixing
• Vinia Mojica – Performer
• DJ Evil Dee – Cutting
• Jane Doe – Performer
• Rick St. Hillaire – Mixing
• Steve Souder – Mixing
• Chris Athens – Mastering
• Ken "Duro" Ifill – Mixing
• Eddie Otchere – Photography
• Vaughn Sessions – Engineer
• Mr. Walt – Producer, engineer, Mixing
• Success – Engineer
• Brent Rollins – Artwork, Embrace fine art
• Mos Def – Fender Rhodes, performer
• Black Star – Artwork, Art Direction
• Talib Kweli – Producer, performer
• Marcus Garvey – Photography
• Ge-ology – Producer, Crowd Dissonance
• 88 Keys – Producer
• Pat Viola – Engineer
• Jake Septimus – Photography
• Tasleem – Photography
• Richard Stonemason – Crowd Noise
• J. Rawls – Producer
• Kieran Dee – Photography/Banter/Dietician

Chart positions [edit]

Weekly charts [edit]

Chart (1998)	Peak position
U.s.a. Billboard 200	53
United states of america Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	thirteen

Singles [edit]

Song	Chart (1998)	Peak position
"Definition"	Usa Billboard Hot 100[23]	lx
	US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[24]	31
	Us Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[25]	three
"Respiration"	US Billboard Hot 100[26]	77
	US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[24]	54

References [edit]

1. ^ AllMusic
2. ^ Anon. (November 28, 2011). "The Week Ahead in New York Music, Nov. 28 to Dec. 4". NBC New York . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
3. ^ Kimble, Julian (Jan 3, 2017). "Yasiin Bey was one of rap's brightest stars. His goodbye concert was a stirring reminder". The Washington Mail service . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
4. ^ Stewart, Allison (February 16, 2021). "Talib Kweli's 'Vibrate Higher' is a plain-spoken striver'southward tale". The Washington Postal service . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
5. ^ Betimes. (February 14, 2020). "Common". uDiscover . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
6. ^ "Black Star - Black Star,Mos Def,Talib Kweli | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved February 11, 2017.
7. ^ "Black Star". Pias Recordings (crude trade). September 1, 2001. Retrieved February xi, 2017.
8. ^ Moon, Tom. "yard Recordings to Hear Before Yous Die". Workman Publishing Company. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
9. ^ "Inside The Album Fine art: Designer Brent Rollins Talks State highway, Black Star, Spank Rock & More than". complex.com. February xix, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
10. ^ Shields, Michael (September 27, 2018). "Twenty Years Later — Blackness Star'due south Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star". acrossthemargin.com . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
11. ^ Temple, Emily (January 26, 2018). "eleven Pop Songs for Literary People". Literary Hub . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
12. ^ Kaufman, Jason. "Black Star – Black Star / Mos Def / Talib Kweli". AllMusic. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
13. ^ ^{a b} Larkin, Colin (2011). "Black Star". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (fifth concise ed.). Motorbus Printing. ISBN0-85712-595-8.
14. ^ Diehl, Matt (October 23, 1998). "Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Retrieved May vii, 2020.
15. ^ McPhail, Pete (Nov 1998). "Blackstar: Blackstar (Rawkus)". Muzik. London (42): 83.
16. ^ Crysell, Andy (October 19, 1998). "Blackstar – Blackstar". NME. London. Archived from the original on Baronial 17, 2000. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
17. ^ Powell, Kevin (October 7, 1998). "Black Star: Black Star". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved April ix, 2016.
18. ^ Relic, Peter (2004). "Mos Def". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Rock Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 562. ISBN0-7432-0169-8 . Retrieved September 27, 2011.
19. ^ "Black Star: Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star". The Source. New York (110): 198. November 1998.
20. ^ Aaron, Charles (August 2009). "Mos Def". Spin. New York. 25 (8): eighty. Retrieved April ix, 2016.
21. ^ ^{a b} Christgau, Robert (November 3, 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Phonation. New York. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
22. ^ "The 1998 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. March 2, 1999. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
23. ^ "Black Star Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
24. ^ ^{a b} "Black Star Nautical chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
25. ^ "Blackness Star Nautical chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
26. ^ "Black Star Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September x, 2021.

External links [edit]

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star at Discogs (list of releases)

godfreysity1989.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def_%26_Talib_Kweli_Are_Black_Star

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