Talib Kweli Found Out About Yasiin Bey's Black Star Comeback Album Announcement Online

The rapper had no idea Yasiin Bey was going to drop the news.

Talib Kweli performs onstage during OZY Fest 2017.
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Image via Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Talib Kweli performs onstage during OZY Fest 2017.

Rap fans couldn't contain their excitement when Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) announced he and Talib Kweli would be reuniting for a new Black Star album produced by Madlib earlier this month. But apparently Bey's musical partner had no idea about the news.

In an interview with HipHopDX, Kweli revealed he heard about the announcement on the internet just like the rest of us. "It looks like it might happen. I found out on the internet the same way y’all did," the rapper said. "We’ve been talking about doing an album with Madlib for years. That’s been an idea we’ve had for so long, but for him to make that announcement…I didn’t know he was going to make the announcement."

Bey shared the news during his appearance at a Madlib DJ set in Denver, which Kweli attributes to his friend's excitement. "He went to a Madlib show and he got hype. It’s not like we discussed it and said, 'Ok, we’re going to announce it,'" he explained. "I got off the plane, I landed and was like, 'Oh ok.' It’s an idea we have been discussing for a long time, now we just gotta make it happen."

Black Star released their first and only album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, in 1998. Since then, they've dropped two singles in 2011: "Fix Up" and the Aretha Franklin tribute "You Already Knew." As of now, there isn't any idea of what to expect from the guys' follow-up record. But their new album would coincide with the 20th anniversary of their debut collaboration.

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