\u201cThe statement that they make will determine what everyone else plays very shortly. Ya dig?\u201d<\/p>\n
The first and, for the time being, only full-length collaboration of rap partners Mos Def and Talib Kweli has certainly stood the test of time in terms of greatness. Of course, the project known as Black Star is most accomplished in its bold simplicity rather than its ambition.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the freewheeling flow that only Mos and Kweli share that makes Black Star<\/em> a standout of the hip-hop scene of the time, both over- and underground. Brooklyn\u2019s b-boy scholars were the franchise players for Krush Groove-minded Rawkus Records, which was like the B-side to late ’90s hip-hop, releasing underground LPs and compilations just about monthly. It carried a hip-hop torch extinguished by West vs. East coast rap wars, a legacy of freestyle battles and Adidas sneakers.<\/p>\n In the tradition of fellow NYC luminaries De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, Black Star skillfully interweaves social commentary about the black condition with frequent boasting about and promotion of themselves and \u201cthe movement.\u201d Mos and Kweli\u2019s superior verse-trading abilities accent the at-times profoundly poetic observations subway culture phrased so well against DJ Hi-Tek and others\u2019 lounge-y beats.<\/p>\n \u201cBreathe in – inhale vapors from bright stars that shine \/ Breathe out – weed smoke retrace the skyline,\u201d from \u201cRespiration\u201d is one of several literary gems. But, most of the time, the duo makes like two b-boys simply kickin\u2019 it. The album\u2019s carefree feel pumps through the tempo-setting \u201cDefinition\u201d\/\u201cRE:DEFinition\u201d sequence and on inspirational tracks like \u201cK.O.S. (Determination).\u201d<\/p>\n Mos Def boasts he\u2019s \u201cdark like the side of the moon you don\u2019t see\u201d on \u201cAstronomy (8th<\/sup> Light)\u201d and close to Kweli like \u201cBethlehem and Nazareth\u201d on \u201cDefinition.\u201d Kweli adds weight to the other end of the scale with sound advice like, \u201cStop acting like a bitch, already \/ Be a visionary \/ Or maybe you can see your name in the column of obituaries.\u201d The silky \u201cBrown Skin Lady\u201d adds a little romance to the occasion while \u201cB-Boys Will B Boys\u201d and \u201cYo Yeah\u201d pay homage to the grandmasters of the game.<\/p>\n Black Star hardly breaks any new ground, but it\u2019s barely a retread. Having these two talented ryhmesayers on a properly promoted major label release would have certainly made it a hit. But, it rightfully remains the humble launching pad of two impressive careers and still fills the loose vibe missing in mainstream hip-hop.<\/p>\n In their own words, Black Star keep shinin’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":28485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7811],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-39940","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-black-star","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39940"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39940"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}