Tomorrow night I'll be heading out to the House of Blues in Chicago to see one of my all-time favorites, Black Star. The group (comprised of MC's Mos Def and Talib Kweli) rose from the underground NYC hip-hop scene of the late '90's. Though they produced only one self-titled album (1998), their work quickly rose to international prominence due to a combination of superb lyrical quality and content centered on themes of race, social consciousness, and most importantly, anti-violence. Following the violent deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. only a few years before, the Black Star collaboration seemed a clear and direct effort to call out the harmful role violence often plays in hip-hop music. It was one of the first albums I heard that was a clear and jarring departure from the gangster rap era that preceded it. I ate it up, fell in love with the MC's, artistry, and messages, and have rarely found anything close to its equal since.
From what I hear, the tour going on now is gonna revisit the stellar tracks of their first album, and give audiences a first glimpse of Black Star's hugely anticipated 2nd album,Blackstar 2, expected to drop in 2012. If this is your first exposure to this group, I highly recommend getting the whole 1st album and spending a good hour or two listening to it from beginning to end. Its hard to choose a favorite tune to post here, so please pardon the excessive clips/mp3's below. Man, I just can't wait to see them live!
Thieves in the Night
Brown Skin Lady
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