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- Artist: Mos Def & Talib Kweli
- Rating:
- Release Date: August 26, 1998
- Type: Contains explicit content
- Genre: Rap
Review
While Puff Daddy and his followers continued to dictate the direction hip-hop would take into the millennium, Mos Def and Talib Kweli surfaced from the underground to pull the sounds in the opposite direction. Their 13 rhyme fests on this superior, self-titled debut as Black Star show that old-school rap still sounds surprisingly fresh in the sea of overblown vanity productions. There's no slack evident in the tight wordplays of Def and Kweli as they twist and turn through sparse, jazz-rooted rhythms calling out for awareness and freedom of the mind. Their viewpoints stem directly from the teachings of Marcus Garvey, the legendary activist who fought for the rights of blacks all around the world in the first half of the 20th century. Def and Kweli's ideals are sure lofty; not only are they out to preach Garvey's words, but they also hope to purge rap music of its negativity and violence. For the most part, it works. Their wisdom-first philosophy hits hard when played off their lyrical intensity, a bass-first production, and stellar scratching. While these MCs don't have all of the vocal pizzazz of A Tribe Called Quest's Phife and Q-Tip at their best, flawless tracks like the cool bop of "K.O.S. (Determination)" and "Definition" hint that Black Star is only the first of many brilliantly executed positive statements for these two street poets. ~ Jason Kaufman, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Intro | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (1:11) | |
| Astronomy (8th Light) | Weldon Irvine, Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (3:23) | |
| Definition | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (3:26) | |
| RE: DEFinition | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (3:02) | |
| Children's Story (Lyrics) | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (3:32) | |
| Brown Skin Lady | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (5:46) | |
| B Boys Will B Boys (Lyrics) | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (2:36) | |
| K. O. S. (Determination) | (4:49) | ||
| Hater Players (Lyrics) | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (4:08) | |
| Yo Yeah (Lyrics) | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (1:10) | |
| Respiration (Lyrics) | Common, Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (6:05) | |
| Thieves in the Night (Lyrics) | Mos Def, Black Star, Talib Kweli | (5:16) | |
| Twice Inna Lifetime (Lyrics) | (5:38) |
