This seems incredibly necessary this morning. Listen, absorb, digest and act. Knowledge is the key. With knowledge comes awareness, when we become aware to the things going on around us we can develop plans to change the things which we deem unacceptable and detrimental to ourselves and to our collective whole. Every life matters. There is more I could say, but it is not my time to speak.
It was all good 16 years ago……..Black Star ushered in a new era within the hip-hop era in my opinion. They were not the originators of the conscious Hip-Hop movement by any means but they played central figure heads within this revolution. Do not believe me? How about you go back and really study the albums from Mos and Kweli. Recognize what they were doing, who they were doing it with and what they were saying. This album will always hold a special place in my collection. It sparked the mind of a 21 year old to dig a little deeper into the music, into the social/political issues going on around me, and it changed my opinion on how music can effect the masses. They were the obvious evolution of the Public Enemy message. I really studied this album, unlike any album I had studied before. I could go on, but I have to get to work. So dust off your copy of Black Star and enjoy. Share it with someone who has not heard it. Spread the word.
One of my favorite track of all-time. So smooth, melodic production from 88-Keys and classic Kweli and Mos lyricism. I could listen to this track and zone out all day. Mos Def’s verse is ridiculous, you young cats should aspire to this level of lyrical control and supremacy.
Yo, I’m sure that everybody out listening agree
That everything you see ain’t really how it be
A lot of jokers out running in place, chasing the style
Be a lot going on beneath the empty smile
Most cats in my area be lovin’ the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages and camouflages
More than usually, speakin’ loudly
Saying nothing, you confusing me, you losing me
Your game is twisted, want me enlisted in your usury
Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin’ glass
Walking the street, wonderin’ who they be looking past
Looking gassed with them imported designer shades on
Stars shine bright, but the light, rarely stays on
Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
Put you on a yacht but they won’t call it a slave ship
Strangeness, you don’t control this, you barely hold this
Screaming “brand new!”, when they just sanitized the old shit
Suppose it’s, just another clever Jedi mind trick
That they been running across stars through all the time with
I find it’s distressing, there’s never no in-between
We either ni**as or Kings, we either bitches or Queens
The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse
Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts
Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
The length of black life is treated with short worth
Get yours first, them other ni**as secondary
That type of illin’ that be filling up the cemetery
This life is temporary but the soul is eternal
Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you
Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain’t directed
That’s why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive
Not free, we only licensed, not live, we just exciting
Cause the captors own the masters to what we writing
Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained
Our sincerity’s rehearsed in stage, it’s just a game
Not good, but well behaved cause the camera survey
Most of the things that we think, do or say
We chasin’ after death just to call ourselves brave
But everyday, next man meet with the grave/Great
I give a damn if any fan recall my legacy
I’m trying to live life in the sight of God’s memory like that y’all
“Life without knowledge is death in disguise”
Kweli murked this track off the Black Star album
http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xnff7b
BSLBJFL by YardieGoals
With a library of music that would make the best hip hop producers proud, it’s nearly impossible to choice a favorite J Dilla beat. With that being said, my favorite story behind a J Dilla beat is in regards to “Little Brother”. It was 1999 and I was working as a manager of a clothing store in a small college town in Colorado. A friend of mine was working with me who was also a big hip hop head such as myself. The soundtrack to the movie The Hurricane had just come out that week and my friend Q and I were up early in the morning to do inventory. I had picked him up and was on my way to buy donuts for the crew when the Little Brother track by Black Star came on, I was already aware of the track and had been listening to it non-stop but this was his first time hearing it. A grin quickly went from ear to ear, he was doing his signature hair twist and scrunching up face while nodding approvingly to the beat. Before the song even ended he demanded I play it again, he refused to go in the store when I bought the donuts and the entire drive to work he just sat and studied the track. The whole time we were performing the inventory count all he would talk about was the track. It was like an obsession to him, when we got off work he asked to borrow the cd to make a dub of it, I agreed, like I always did. I don’t get to see or talk to my man Q as much anymore as I used to, but every time I hear this song I can’t help but think about him. Here Mos and Kweli can be seen performing the track live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots backing them up….not a bad combo…..I’d like to think that before the new Black Star album drops and they embark on their tour Kweli will have his second verse memorized a little better though……just a thought
an 18yr old DJ Hi-Tek produced one of my favorite all-time hip hop beats. The song is from Black Star’s Self Titled debut album and features Chicago bred emcee Common. Of course I’m not telling you anything you don’t know so just enjoy the dang video
I posted up some Reflection Eternal music yesterday and it made me think about this track “Respiration” from Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli) which is produced by Reflection Eternal partner DJ Hi-Tek and features Chicago rapper turned hippy turned rapper again Common. There is also a incredibly dope Pete Rock remix which features Black Thought of The Roots, in the place of Common. I’ve included that Remix below for your downloading pleasure as well as another lesser know Black Star song “Little Brother” off The Hurricane Soundtrack. The song was produced by the late and great J Dilla, though the song was never meant to get out. The story goes that Dilla made the beat for practice and Kweli got hold of like 15 seconds of it somehow on a beat tape and it was looped from there…..Ridiculous that this song could have never happened….
DOWNLOAD : BLACK STAR – RESPIRATION (REMIX) [FEAT BLACK THOUGHT]
DOWNLOAD : BLACK STAR – LITTLE BROTHER
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