- Track 1 of Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star – “Intro” - [This is part 1 of a longer series – next post “Interlude” – next track – “Astronomy (8th Light)”] “I found my only chance for life was in flight.” Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The first time I listened to Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star (youtube, spotify) was somewhere near 5:30am in the … Continue reading Track 1 of Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star – “Intro”
- Interlude – Some Light in the Darkness – Student Adventures in Pandemic Podcasting - [This is part of a longer series – previous track “Intro” – next track – “Astronomy (8th Light)”] I’ve asked students to analyze Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star for the last three years – the first time came that winter was just a couple months after that first listening (right after the 1/6 insurrection, as a … Continue reading Interlude – Some Light in the Darkness – Student Adventures in Pandemic Podcasting
- Astronomy (8th Light) (track 2) - [This is part 2 of a longer series – previous post “Interlude” – previous track – “Introduction” – next track – “Definition”] That’s what hip-hop is: It’s sociology and English put to a beat, you know. Talib Kweli Now fast forward to post-post-pandemic 2023, and Malachi, a student (all the names are changed) exasperated, looks at me after … Continue reading Astronomy (8th Light) (track 2)
- Definition (Track 3) - [This is part 3 of a longer series – previous track – “Astronomy (8th Light)” – next track – “Re:Definition”] I think this is the album’s the catchiest track. The lyricism here is joyfully overwhelming- I’ll try my best to exemplify what it feels like to listen to it. It has a ridiculously infectious beat and the … Continue reading Definition (Track 3)
- Re:Definition (Track 4) - [This is part 4 of a longer series – previous track – “Definition” – next track – “Children’s Story”] “Definition” (youtube/spotify) and “Re:Definition” (youtube/spotify) roll together like one continuous track, but also like 2 mirror images: “Definition” is joyful and celebratory; “Re:Definition” is “turnin’ your play into a tragedy.” The key change (and subtle downshift in rhythm) work … Continue reading Re:Definition (Track 4)
- “Children’s Story” (Track 5) - [This is part 5 of a longer series – previous track – “Re:Definition” – next track – “Brown-Skinned Lady”] The opening four tracks of Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star feel like they form a kind of opening act. The fifth song on the album, “Children’s Story,” a cover (sort of) of Slick Rick’s song of … Continue reading “Children’s Story” (Track 5)
- “Brown-Skinned Lady” (Track 6) - [This is part 6 of a longer series – previous track – “Children’s Story” – next track – “B Boys will Be Boys”] “Brown-Skinned Lady” is both an ordinary love song and also a deeply intellectual engagement with intersectional feminism. And just like with “Re:Definition,” I’m approaching these contexts with humility, as they get to some of the … Continue reading “Brown-Skinned Lady” (Track 6)
- “B Boys Will Be Boys” (Track 7) - [This is part 7 of a longer series – previous track – “Brown-Skinned Lady” – next track – “KOS (Determination”)] As one catalog ends – from the end of “Brown-Skinned Lady,” calling in the great circle of “indigenous women of the planet earth,” another more local (and masculine) one begins, as Mos Def and Talib Kweli keep … Continue reading “B Boys Will Be Boys” (Track 7)
- K.O.S. (Determination) (track 8) - [This is part 8 of a longer series – previous track – “B Boys Will Be Boys” – next track – “Hater Players”] One of the great programmatic statements of the album begins this track, after a side conversation – So many MC’s focus in on Black people exterminationwe keep it balanced with that knowledge of self-determination … Continue reading K.O.S. (Determination) (track 8)
- Hater Players (Track 9) - [This is part 9 of a longer series – previous track – “KOS (Determination)” – next track – “Yo Yeah”] This song seems to come pretty hard at the same folks that “Re-Definition” was going after but a little more in the vernacular of a more straightforward diss track. About halfway through, though, we get this an … Continue reading Hater Players (Track 9)
- Yo Yeah (track 10) - [This is part 10 of a longer series – previous track – “Player Haters” – next track – “Respiration”] This is a mysteriously beautiful interlude – a look into that “synaptic space” from last time – that in some way is the hinge that holds the album together through an ambient night-time streetscape. As the last strains … Continue reading Yo Yeah (track 10)
- Respiration (Track 11) - [This is part 11 of a longer series – previous track – “Yo Yeah” – next track – “Thieves in the Night”] This song is massive and complex – there’s no way around that – but it’s also catchy and engaging. I fear my analysis of it below doesn’t live up to that, but really good music … Continue reading Respiration (Track 11)
- Thieves in the Night (Track 12) - [This is part 12 of a longer series – previous track – “Respiration” – next track – “Twice Inna Lifetime”] In his memoir, Talib Kweli reports that Mos Def was not a fan of this one at first – he thought it was too slow and too many words. But for me, this was, on the first … Continue reading Thieves in the Night (Track 12)
- Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching - [This is the final part of a longer series – previous track – “Thieves in the Night”] Reaching the end of these posts I’m brought back to the beginning, the first time I listened to Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. I got to “Twice Inna Lifetime”, about 4.5 miles into the 5 mile early … Continue reading Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching
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Original Positions 