Black Star Respiration

Black Star is an eloquently moody confection more for listening than for parties. The self-titled first album by the Brooklyn hip-hop duo, formed by Mos Def and Talib Kweli in the late 1990s and named for the 1920s shipping line Marcus Garvey dedicated to the global African economy, has as its main theme black identity in a time of hip-hop's paradoxical success. It is also about the pleasures of words, friendship, creative achievement and love. Several of the songs on Black Star, which was released in 1999 in the wake of the violent deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, have a cautionary tone, but there is nothing dry about the album. The production, done by various musicians but primarily by DJ Hi-Tek, manages to be both minimalist and lush, with hints of soul, funk and acid jazz.

Black Star Respiration

"So much on my mind that I can't recline, / blasted holes in the night till she bled sunshine. / Breathe in: inhale vapors from bright stars that shine. / Breathe out: weed smoke retrace the skyline. / Hey, don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call? / I can't take it y'all / I could feel the city breathing / chest heaving against the flesh of the evening / kiss the eyes goodbye / I'm on the last train leaving." 041b061a72