Known as the golden era of Hip-Hop, the 90’s was able to generate numerous acts that continued to leave fans clawing for more. N.W.A, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest and countless others have left their marks in the book as their history continues to live on despite their absence in today’s music.
Unfortunately for those of yesterday, the ear of the casual listener has changed over the years and that old sound just doesn’t seem to pick up the reception that it once did. As Method Man and Redman returned with Blackout! 2, another memorable duo in the form of Black Star comes to mind.
Comprised of Talib Kweli and Mos Def, this team was a heavy influence in the underground circuit of Hip Hop and their rise came after the death of Biggie Smalls and Tupac. The duo, hailing from New York, chose not to pick sides, but instead wanted to diffuse the chaos that had erupted from both coasts.
Many years later and the two have continued to release solo projects, but there has been no word of regrouping. Speaking on Subsoniq Radio, Talib Kweli let it be known what it would take to see Black Star together again.
“Music is about timing,” Talib said in an interview. “The realest thing about it, we put out songs, plenty of songs with me and Mos Def that haven’t garnered the interest of the Black Star fan. And that sort of, it doesn’t make you rushed to rush in the studio. You look at A Tribe Called Quest, you look at Brand Nubian, EPMD, you look at all these groups that came back together to try to do something and didn’t come off the same way. And I think with Black Star, that was people’s first introduction to me and Mos Def but the reason the album is called Talib Kweli & Mos Def Are Black Star is because we had every intention of doing separate things after that. It was just supposed to be a collaboration…”
The two recently came together on Mos Def’s return on The Ecstatic for the track “History”.
Always continuing his craft, Kweli is in the process of finishing Reflection Eternal II with Hi-Tek. Although it was expected to see the light of day in the summer, it is almost October. Some things, however, are worth the wait.
