Black Star - Mos Def

The 1998 release, "Black Star" comes from the two all-time greatest Conscious MCs in the Hip Hop game, Talib Kwei and Mos Def. It has the East Coasters collaborate as Black Star and send out positve messages in light of the deaths of big rap personalities of the nineties, 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.. At the time, Talib Kweli was relatively unknown, and it wasn't until recent times where he actually got noticed in the mainstream and in the UK, and I had only heard of Mos Def as an underground artist, it wasn't really until a few years later where a couple of his singles brought him into some more widely-seen attention. 1. "Intro" 2. ...  Read the complete review

Coming from the New York underground Hip-Hop scene in 1998, an extremely competitive and demanding musical scene, Rappers Talib Kweli and Mos Def, along with DJ Hi Teck, dropped this collaborative album, which provided everything the Hip-Hop fanbase demanded- deft turntableism, top notch linguistics and poetry, genuine self-expression and intelligent and positive lyrics about streetwise social commentary, self-knowledge and black-pride which defy every negative stereotype about Rap music. No nonsensical, mindless lyrics of materialism, ego, killing, malice, drugs or misogyny to be found here. The album begins with an announcement- "We feel we have an ...  Read the complete review