Black Star [Yasiin Bey & Talib Kweli] - No Fear of Time ALBUM REVIEW
Keep shining.
There are always albums that we don’t think will ever see the light of day. Some may not even exist, but the one inkling of knowing that it’s possibly out there is enough. Dr. Dre’s Detox, a solo André 3000 album, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s second album, the Child Rebel Soldier project with Kanye West, Pharrell, and Lupe Fiasco…I could go on for a while. For the longest time, a second Black Star album was one of those. A duo consisting of legendary rappers Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, their first album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star essentially kicked off their careers and is considered a classic by most hip-hop heads, and I believe that too. Now, 24 years later, Black Star is back with No Fear of Time, entirely produced by the one and only Madlib. How does it stack up? Let’s find out.
I’ll start off with Madlib’s beats, and they were much more abstract than I thought they were gonna be. I actually dug the vibe that Madlib was going for with it, but it felt like other producers could’ve made these beats too. I’m not disappointed at this, though. Honestly, nothing disappointed me about this. One thing did surprise me about the album. It’s no surprise that Bey and Kweli are at the top of their game, but I actually think Kweli did a better job on this album, especially since he hasn’t been that great recently. Maybe the reunion revitalized him to be on the same level as Bey, but I think I prefer him on this project. Even the features here are pretty good, with Black Thought having one of his best features in recent memory. Honestly, No Fear of Time is on the same level as A Tribe Called Quest’s comeback album. Black Star finally reunite for a once-in-a-lifetime album.
10/10
Listen here
Luminary
[Will be updated with streaming services if available]
No Fear of Time is a Luminary release.
There are always albums that we don’t think will ever see the light of day. Some may not even exist, but the one inkling of knowing that it’s possibly out there is enough. Dr. Dre’s Detox, a solo André 3000 album, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s second album, the Child Rebel Soldier project with Kanye West, Pharrell, and Lupe Fiasco…I could go on for a while. For the longest time, a second Black Star album was one of those. A duo consisting of legendary rappers Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, their first album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star essentially kicked off their careers and is considered a classic by most hip-hop heads, and I believe that too. Now, 24 years later, Black Star is back with No Fear of Time, entirely produced by the one and only Madlib. How does it stack up? Let’s find out.
I’ll start off with Madlib’s beats, and they were much more abstract than I thought they were gonna be. I actually dug the vibe that Madlib was going for with it, but it felt like other producers could’ve made these beats too. I’m not disappointed at this, though. Honestly, nothing disappointed me about this. One thing did surprise me about the album. It’s no surprise that Bey and Kweli are at the top of their game, but I actually think Kweli did a better job on this album, especially since he hasn’t been that great recently. Maybe the reunion revitalized him to be on the same level as Bey, but I think I prefer him on this project. Even the features here are pretty good, with Black Thought having one of his best features in recent memory. Honestly, No Fear of Time is on the same level as A Tribe Called Quest’s comeback album. Black Star finally reunite for a once-in-a-lifetime album.
10/10
Listen here
Luminary
[Will be updated with streaming services if available]
No Fear of Time is a Luminary release.
Comments
Post a Comment