Black Star’s Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey were joined by producer Madlib to support their Saturday NightLive debut spotlighting their latest album No Fear Of Time.
The Brooklyn duo performed two tracks from the Madlib-produced album, which arrived earlier this year, 24 years after their iconic debut album.
Black Star kicked off their musical guest duties with “So Be It,” with Madlib serving as DJ as Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli delivered an onslaught of rapid-fire lyrics.
Returning towards the end of the SNL episode, they took to the stage to perform “The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing.” During each performance, Yasiin Bey threw rose petals across the performance space, without offering any clarification about the significance of the flowers.
Ahead of their second performance, host Dave Chappelle referred to Black Star as his brothers. The three have in fact supported each other’s work since the first season of Chappelle’s Show in 2003.
The following year, Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey joined the lineup for Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, later contributing a new Black Start track to the documentary’s soundtrack. The three have since garnered praise for their sharp cultural criticism and unfiltered political views, a main ingredient of the Midnight Miracle podcast they launched last year.
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Rumors of a Black Star project produced by Madlib were first confirmed by Yasiin Bey in 2018. Once No Fear Of Time arrived, however, it was not made readily accessible to fans.
Those interested in streaming the highly-anticipated follow up to Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star have had to head over to the Luminary podcast network in order to enjoy it. The veteran Hip Hop duo has often had a lot to say about DSP’s, with Yasiin Bey being particularly critical of Spotify over the years.
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“You mean to tell me that the source of labor at the center of this experience is supposed to be satisfied and grateful with receiving a portion of a penny for their efforts and labor?” Bey said in a 2019 interview with Uproxx. “Now whoever else is happy with that, then that’s you — you can take your labor to the market however you see fit.”
