Black Star (rap duo)

Black Star
Origin	Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Genres	Hip Hop
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Rawkus Records
Members	Mos Def Talib Kweli

Black Star is a hip hop duo composed of Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

History

Black Star arose from the underground movement of the late 1990s, which was in large part due to Rawkus Records, an independent record label stationed in New York City. They released one album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star on August 26, 1998. The record received critical acclaim, but only moderate commercial success. Black Star (and other members of the Native Tongues Posse) helped shape underground alternative rap, bringing it into the mainstream. Both Mos Def and Talib Kweli have gone on to greater commercial and critical success in their solo careers.

Black Star's emergence into the hip-hop scene came at a crucial point in music history. Following the deaths of both Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, hip-hop was consumed in a world of chaos. Black Star attempted to bring reconciliation in the wake of these violent deaths. The self titled album contains various references to Biggie and Tupac, and attempts to create reconciliation in the hip-hop world: “I said one, two, three. It’s kinda dangerous to be an emcee. They shot Tupac and Biggie. Too much violence in hip-hop.”

In 2001, Black Star performed "Money Jungle" with Ron Carter and John Patton for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. In 2005, hip hop website TheSituation.co.uk reported Kweli said that a new Black Star album was "in the pipeline".[1] On Talib Kweli's Myspace he posted up a video saying that "We're going to find Mos Def and put it on camera that there will be a second Black Star album." In 2006, Mos and Kweli appeared together in the movie Dave Chappelle's Block Party, alongside Erykah Badu, Common, Jill Scott, Dead Prez and The Fugees, among others. They contributed a new song, "Born & Raised", to the movie's soundtrack.

The first new Black Star song was leaked via DJ J Rocc from Stones Throw Records. The song is produced by Madlib and is titled "Fix Up". On October 5, 2011 Black Star appeared on the Colbert Report and publicly performed the song for the first time.

On November 25, Black Friday "Fix Up" was released on iTunes followed by another song titled "You Already Knew".

As of 2012 Mos Def goes by the artist name Yasiin Bey.

Discography

Albums

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998)
• Black Star Aretha (2012)

Singles

• "Definition"(1998)
• "Respiration" (1999)
• "Fix Up" (2011)

Other collaborations

• 1999: "Know That" from Mos Def's album, Black on Both Sides
• 1999: "Little Brother", The Hurricane (soundtrack)
• 2000: "This Means You", produced by DJ Hi-Tek on the album Train Of Thought
• 2001: "Money Jungle" from the Red Hot Organization's album Red Hot + Indigo
• 2002: "Joy" from Talib Kweli's album, Quality
• 2002: "Brown Sugar (Raw)", Brown Sugar (soundtrack)
• 2004: "Beautiful Struggle", a remix of the Mary J. Blige song Beautiful, featured on Talib Kweli's The Beautiful Struggle
• 2005: "Supreme Supreme" from Talib Kweli's album, Right About Now
• 2005: "Bright as the Stars" from Mos Def's single, "Ah Ha"
• 2005: "What It Is" from Talib Kweli's mixtape, The Beautiful Mixtape Vol. 2
• 2006: "Born & Raised" from the soundtrack, Dave Chappelle's Block Party
• 2006: "Hip Hop (Screamixx)", Hip-Hop Docktrine: The Official Boondocks Mixtape
• 2009: "History", from Mos Def's album The Ecstatic
• 2010: "Just Begun", from Reflection Eternal song also featuring Jay Electronica & J. Cole, Revolutions per Minute
• 2011: "Fix Up", from Blackstar appearance on The Colbert Report The Colbert Report
• 2011: "You Already Knew", off Black Star Aretha, the two's tribute to the legendary singer, Aretha Franklin.

External links

• Mos Def -- official website.
• Talib Kweli -- official website.
• Black Star discography at Discogs.
• Black Star Hub -- Official Black Star website