MOS DEF & TALIB KWELI are "BLACK STAR"
I first heard Mos Def on De La Soul's "Big Brother Beat" from the album "Stakes Is High". Eventually, hype began to boil forboth Mos Def & Talib Kweli. Company Flow & Lyricist's Lounge  helped them out too. Now, they are "Black Star". This album reminds me of A Tribe Called Quest's "People's Instinctive Travels...", De La Soul's "3 Feet High And Rising", the first Brand Nubian album, and all that neo-hippie hip-hop music which I use to like in the late 80's/early 90's. Mos Def and Talib Kweli use "Black Star" as a reference to Marcus Garvey's "Black Star Line" which was a cruise ship that would take African-Americans back to their homeland of Africa. Metaphorically, they are taking Hip-hop back to their roots. Hip-hop music, though it breaks cultural and racial barriers, is considered black music. Both emcees are very proud of their heritage and their race. It is also evident that they love hip-hop music, graffitti, b-boying, and everything pure in the culture which we call hip-hop. The pictures in the sleeve show Mos Def writing on a pad, his lyrics. Both emcees have deep, well-thought-out lyrics and DJ Hi-Tek is a master dj. So, now we have a complete album to listen to..

The "Intro" is basically a scratch-fest from DJ Hi-Tek. He's masterful... a brilliant DJ who has the potential to be as big as Ali Shaheed from ATCQ.

The first real song is "Astronomy" which explains the many meaning of their name "Black Star". This song proves to the listener that both emcees are trying to say something clear and calculated. They're not just babbling about nothing. It's a cool song with a cool beat which embraces their African-American culture.

The next song is the most popular single off the album so far, "Definition" which uses an old-school beat and hook from Krs-One. "1-2-3, Mos Def and Talib Kweli. We came to rock it all to the tip-top. Too much violence in hip-hop. why-Oh!" It's cool how Mos Def can go from a reggee-like voice and switch back to his normal hip-hop rhyme. This is a dope song too. No guns, not much izm (only a little bit), and no greed and glamour. 

The next song is a re-working of the previous called "Re:definition". The beat is more driving and the song is a little more loose. I don't like it as much as the original but it's not bad. Then, Mos Def remakes Slick Rick's "Children's Story" and substitutes the little kid jacking pocketbooks for a little kid jacking beats and selling out making wack songs... sound like someone you heard of? Well, Mos insists in the sleeve that he's not talking about Puffy. Though I like the original better, this is a great song lyrically and musically. The bassline is cool because it is played live and it also changes in a subtle way. The song would be monotonous with the same bass line but they took care of that problem in a cool, cool way. "

Brown Skin Lady" is one of those smoothed out jams about the love for their African-American queen. It's a cool song but not one of the strongest on the album. It's too peaceful, too nice, too flattering. This song sound very commercial and certainly not hardcore in anyway.

"B Boys Will B Boys" is a dope track where DJ Hi-Tek rips it apart with ease. Their rhymes aren't the most intricate because they basically use the ol' school hip-hop party slang to get a crowd amped.. but it's a dope song... One of the best on the album.

"K.O.S. (Determination) features Vinia Mojica who sang on Heltah Skeltah's "Therapy" and on A Tribe Called Quest's "Verses From The Abstract". She has a cool voice and the sentiments of the song are good. "K.O.S." means "Knowledge Of Self".. The beat is slow and uses some of the same beat as "Cheque The Rhime" from ATCQ. . Like I said, the sentiments are important and very good but the song does sound too much like R&B.

"Hater Players" is a cool song because they play on that whole "Player Hater" BS that everyone and their mother is talking about. It's a great song which looks and pokes fun at the state of hip-hop... This is thekind of songs we need from these people! Excellent!

"Yo Yeah" is DJ Hi-Tek ripping it up again... This is a short interlude filled with samples, scratches, and turntable wizardry! Wonderful! "Respiration" features Common Sense. This song is cool because it looks at the city like a living organism. It's an orginal concept which makes the listener take a good look at the reality of their surroundings. Common does a good job at his verse too... He's a good emcee on this song at least..

"Thieves In The Night" is one of the best songs on the album... Though Talib Kweli is responsible for most of the writing, Mos Def adds some flavor. The sentiments are that, we're not truly free... This is hardcore in the profoundness of thought not in violence, drugs, and sex. This is an amazing song!

The last song is "Twice Inna Lifetime" which features Wordsworth, Janedoe, and Punchline. This is very similar to A Tribe Called Quest's "Rock Rock Y'all" because it has that live family feel to it. Q-Tip is not it though.. It's a cool song with a cool beat. It doesn't blow me away but it's not bad.

Overall, both emcees are intelligent lyricists and they have a very talented DJ to back them up. The album flows nice and doesn't really get boring except on the smoothed out "Black Skin Woman" and "K.O.S." Though the sentiments are good, the music gets a little bland on those two tracks. The production is tight with thick basslines. The whole album has that family feel like we're in a coffee house of urban poets in Brooklyn somewhere. Hardcore? Well, they're all into peace and love like ATCQ which gets a little wimpy but they do make fun of the money-grubbing, glamour emcees who sell out with wack songs. Mos Def and Kweli Talib are not sell-outs... They do what they feel and are original even though they borrow the feelings from Tribe and Boogie Down Productions. Because of this, they may be lumped in to that neo-hippie rap movement which does not really exist...The only thing that makes them harcore is because they say what they feel... for the most part, they are so positive that it's almost annoying... One true thing all of them have is Skills... plenty of them. Though the lyrics should express more of the harsh reality of the world, the main sentiment they push is that the mind should be free... I'm all for that! They will and should go far. So, take a ride on the black star line...
Beats:  8.5/10,
Lyrics: 9/10,
Album Flow: 9/10,
Creativity/Originality:8.5 /10,
Production:8.5 /10,
Hardcore rating: 6/10.
[ Overall Rating: 8.3/10 ]