Talib Kweli Teases New ‘Black Star’ Album Is Coming
Written by SOURCE on February 28, 2022
It’s been nearly 24 years since legendary hip-hop duo Black Star released their first—and only—collaborative album, and while a follow-up has been teased several times over the last few years, things may finally be coming to fruition this time.
Talib Kweli took to Instagram over the weekend to share an update on the duo’s long-awaited followup to 1998’s Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, alongside a photo of him with Yasiin Bey, the artist formerly known as Mos Def.
“The new Black Star album was recorded in hotel rooms and dressing rooms across the globe,” Kweli wrote in the caption on Saturday. “I love how my brother [Yasiin Bey] pushes me musically. #blackstarforever follow @blackstarkeepshining today…”
One look at the duo’s official page shows plenty of archival footage from the last two decades, including their recent appearance on Netflix’s Kanye West documentary jeen-yuhs. Some more recent images of Bey and Kweli mention new material with Madlib, who has previously been teased as the production mind behind their Black Star follow-up.
It’s certainly been a hot minute since we last heard from Black Star on a studio album together, and not that long since fans were last teased new material. The pair did team up with longtime friend Dave Chappelle on their Midnight Miracle podcast on Luminary. The show has had guests like Kevin Hart, Questlove, Chris Rock, and Donnell Rawlings, and launched its most-recent episode back in October.
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one,” Chappelle said in a release. “The Midnight Miracle gives you a look into how me and my friends process the world around us, and I think it will change the way listeners think of what a podcast can be.”
Before Black Star (hopefully, this time) unleashes some new material, the New York two-piece was featured in Complex’s recent list of the greatest hip-hop duos of all time, which you can see in full here.
