Black Star and Madlib Are Dropping an Album This Year, According to Yasiin Bey

A reddit user captured Yasiin Bey announcing a Black Star album on stage during Madlib's DJ set in Denver.

Talib Kweli and Mos Def of Black Star perform during the 2011 Rock The Bells Music Festival.
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Image via C Flanigan/FilmMagic

Talib Kweli and Mos Def of Black Star perform during the 2011 Rock The Bells Music Festival.

Black Star might be coming back soon. Reddit user Mellowtooth said he/she was at a Madlib DJ set in Denver where Yasiin Bey popped up and dropped the news. "Yasiin Bey made a surprise appearance, and announced a Blackstar & Madlib album dropping in 2018," the user wrote. "He even mentioned it several times. Yasiin showed up after performing elsewhere in Denver with Talib Kweli the same night."

Mellowtooth also included footage of Yasiin's announcement. "New Black Star with Madlib, Talib Kweli, Yasiin coming soon," he's heard saying to cheers. "All Madlib, all day. 2018."

This is a surprise revelation, considering Talib Kweli once said the chances of another Black Star album materializing would be slim to none. “We do shows all the time. Black Star is a very lucrative thing. But, you know, that album is special," Talib said during an interview with Vlad TV. "You know, part twos are overrated, bruh. People are always like, ‘You need to make a part two to ‘Get Em High.' Yeah, ain’t no guarantee the part two’s gonna come out dope. ‘You need to make a Black Star album part two.’ You know, how about you just go listen to the old one? The reason you like it so much is cause it is what it is. Appreciate it for what it is.”

Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli joined forces in 1998 for the classic album Mos Def And Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Since then, they both have gone on to enjoy commendable solo careers in both film and music. While there were rumblings of a reunion album in 2012, they've only released one album under the Black Star group moniker while hopping on each other'ssolo projects. Black Star did put out two songs in 2011: “Fix Up” and the Aretha Franklin tribute "You Already Knew." Madlib joining them on this new collaboration makes perfect sense considering his production fit like a glove over "Fix Up" and "Auditorium" from Bey's The Ecstatic album.

So far, no official confirmation about the upcoming album has come from either member's social media, but Kweli did bring back sweet memories by posting this photo from their sold out show in Denver.

This isn't the first time some sort of Kweli and Yasiin collaboration has been teased this year. Last month, Kweli shared a picture of himself hanging with his Black Star brother and Kanye West as he scribbled notes. "2018 is looking good," he said on the Instagram caption.

 

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