Khruangbin Invites Yasiin Bey On Stage At Primavera Sound To Perform A Hip-Hop Version Of ‘Maria Tambien’

Texas trio Khruangbin has put forth a pretty strong 2022 year so far. Their four months removed from the release of their Texas Moon project with Leon Bridges, which is the companion release of their 2020 drop Texas Sun. The former project comes after they dropped a remix edition of their Mordechai effort last year. This past weekend, Khruangbin took their talents to Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival which has been ongoing since the beginning of the month. It was here that they performed a special edition of a 2018 song with a hip-hop legend.

During Khruangbin’s set, they invited Yasiin Bey on stage to perform a hip-hop version of “Maria Tambien.” The original song is housed on Khruangbin’s 2018 album Con Todo El Mundo, and the new take of the song is an incredible listen that was a part of a just-as-incredible set from the Texas trio. Khruangbin and Bey also delivered their own renditions of Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache” classic and Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” during Bey’s time on stage with the group.

This is also not the first time that Bey performed the hip-hop version of “Maria Tambien” as he previously did so during a 2019 concert in Chicago.

You can watch Khruangbin and Mos Def perform “Maria Tambien” in the video above.

Black Star’s Talib Kweli & Yasiin Bey Dictate Their Art & Set The Price With New Album

Blackstar

The group Black Star which features Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def are making a comeback after over two decades.  With their new album, ‘No Fear of Time’ the duo say they are in total control. Gettin’ what’s deserved The legendary rap duo, Blackstar, is back after their last release 24 years […]

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Black Star (Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli) Set to Release New Album, ‘No Fear of Time’ Exclusively on Podcast Platform

No Fear of Time Black Star Talib Kweli Mos Def Yasiin Bey Album

After 24 years since the release of their debut album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, the hip-hop duo known as Black Star, are finally set to release their highly anticipated second album, No Fear of Time. The album will be available exclusively on the podcasting platform Luminary.

Set to be released on May 3, the album comprises nine tracks, all of which were recorded “guerrilla style in hotel rooms and dressing rooms around the globe.” No Fear of Time is said to hone a “future vibe with vintage soul,” ultimately living up to its highly anticipated coming from the iconic Brooklyn rap pair.

Luminary is also home to the duo’s podcast with Dave Chappelle, The Midnight Miracle. According to the platform, the first episode of season two titled, “Bugs Bunny Mathematicx,” “serves as audio liner notes to introduce the album.” The following episode, “Mineral Mountain,” features a Black Star freestyle with Black Thought produced by Madlib.

No Fear of Time will be the first of its kind—a hip-hop album released and confined to a digital platform for access, in this case, a podcasting platform. The album will not be available on popular streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. It will solely be available on the podcasting platform, Luminary.

Since their debut album, the duo has managed to continue creating their refined hip-hop sound throughout the victorious solo projects of both Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, ultimately producing era defining hip-hop works.

At the time using the moniker Mos Def, in 1998 Yasiin Bey released his solo debut Black on Both Sides under Rawkus records. Bey’s musicianship is a full display with tracks such as “UMI Says,” “Mathematics,” and “Ms. Fat Booty.” The cosmic individuality showcased by Bey highlights his melodic fluctuation between rapping and singing, set the tone for the new millennium’s hip-hop sound. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard Top Rap Albums chart in 1999.

In 2002, Talib Kweli released his debut album Quality, where the Brooklyn native displays a refined level of their boom-bap tendencies with a flair of rich instrumentation. The Kanye West produced single, “Get By,” hit the Billboard Hot 100 at number 77, ultimately making the album a commercial success. Quality peaked at number 6 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Prior to Quality, Talib Kweli teamed up with producer Hi-Tek to form Reflection Eternal and released Train of Thought, which features one of Kweli’s referenced tracks, “The Blast/Down For The Count.”

“Our fans always ask about the possibility of a second Black Star album,” Talib Kweli shares on The Midnight Miracle. “To that end, we’ve had many false starts. But we also realize that great music happens organically and we’ve never wanted to force it. Black Star was and is a vibe.”

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Yasiin Bey And Talib Kweli Announce Their Long-Awaited Black Star Reunion Release Date

It was well over two decades ago that Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (then known as Mos Def) declared, “Black Star keep shinin’.” However, in the intervening years, it seemed that Black Star had long since burned out. The two respected rappers would offer glimmers of hope, but for most, their reunion seemed like a lost cause. After announcing they were working on a new album in 2018, it almost felt like they were stringing rap fans along — I mean, even Kweli was shocked by Bey’s insistence that he was coming out of retirement.

But wonder of wonders, it looks like the thing actually exists — and even better, it has a release date. Today, Black Star announced that their comeback album, No Fear of Time, will drop on May 3 via the Luminary podcast network, which also hosts their show The Midnight Miracle with Dave Chappelle and the Uproxx-produced People’s Party With Talib Kweli. The album is entirely produced by the duo’s longtime collaborator Madlib, who dropped his album Sound Ancestors in 2021 after teaming up with Freddie Gibbs in 2019 for Bandana.

In a press release, Kweli explained how the album came together:

“About 3-4 years ago I was visiting Yasiin in Europe and we started to talk about songs to do on an album, so I flew an engineer out just to see what that would be. Once I realized this conversation is starting to organically become a creative conversation, I started making sure to have the engineer around at all times. There was one day we were just in a hotel listening to Madlib beats, and he’s like ‘Play that Madlib tape again.’ I’m playing the beats and he starts doing rhymes to the beats. And that’s how we did the first song.

This is very similar to how we did the first album. But the first album, there were no mobile studios. This entire album, we have not set foot in one recording studio. It’s all been done in hotel rooms and backstage at Dave Chappelle shows.”

black star no fear of time cover
Black Star

Talib Kweli Teased A ‘New Black Star Album’ And Praised ‘My Brother’ Yasiin Bey

The collaboration between Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey, the artist formerly known as Mos Def, has been one of the most formative albums in hip-hop history. Referred to colloquially as “Black Star,” the supergroup’s sole album together, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, came out over twenty years ago now in 1998. And though both artists have released plenty of music as solo artists since, the demand and hope for a second Black Star record has never abated. Since then, Talib has become a part of Uproxx by launching his People’s Party show.

Today, seemingly out of nowhere, Talib all but confirmed that the follow-up record actually exists, and that it will actually come out. “The new Black Star album was recorded in hotel rooms and dressing rooms across the globe. I love how my brother @yasiinbey pushes me musically. #blackstarforever follow @blackstarkeepshining today…” he wrote, captioning a photo of both men in what is, presumably, one of the many hotel rooms where the pair worked on their new music.

If this news is timely, as in, the album or some new music teasing the project is coming soon, then 2022 just got a whole lot better. Hey, if A Tribe Called Quest can make a comeback album that’s just as good as their old material, why can’t Black Star? Stay tuned.