Sy ShacklefordDespite success in their solo careers, Brooklyn rap duo Black Star (Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli) haven’t lost their chemistry since, what was until a few years ago, their sole joint album. Looking back, their 1998 debut gave birth to the phrase “conscious rapper.” These rappers weren’t exactly Native Tongues, but they were akin to its musical offspring. They were characterized by jazzy beats, socially relevant lyrics blistering with charismatic intelligence, a distinctive lack of negativity, and were instrumental in providing an alternative to hip-hop’s shiny-suit/bling-bling period. Though fans clamored for a sequel, hip-hop’s landscape has gone through various changes since that time with many “destroy & rebuild” periods.
When this album was released on Rawkus Records, it was during a period when being a backpacker hip-hop fan was cool. But since then, the terms “backpacker” and “conscious rapper” became something of pejoratives, and Kweli’s 2013 album, entitled “Prisoner of Conscious”, was a reflection of this. Though released two years prior and presently seeing the light of day on physical media, Black Star’s sophomore album has been brought to the masses. The title, “No Fear of Time”, can be interpreted as an awareness of the time passed since their debut and their current status as hip-hop elder statesmen nearing their mid-centennials.
Produced entirely by Madlib, “No Fear of Time” doesn’t bear much resemblance to its predecessor nor should it. Starting with the looped bass line of “o.G.”, Bey alternates between singing and rapping in his laid-back Brooklyn drawl before Talib attacks the mic with bars delivered with more energy. “Sweetheart. Sweethard. Sweetodd.” has a psychedelic soul in its production as Bey and Kweli wax poetry about love. The single “So Be It” has Bey sounding noticeably amped up in the delivery of his lyrics. For the beat, Madlib flips an obscure, but vintage movie score for both Bey and Talib to spit socially conscious braggadocious rhymes:
“My Favorite Band” is a Yasiin Bey solo track, exuding abstract imagery and spirituality in the lyrics and the production. “The Main Thing is to Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing” has moody overtones in the beat, a factor which overshadows Bey’s stream-of-consciousness lyrics as well as Kweli’s more well-structured, but equally free-flowing rhymes. “Yonders” contains a glut of pop culture references, particularly Kweli’s verse with lines like “Wait, you’re feeling froggy then leap like amphibians / Evolutionary, this apeshit you see me in / Revolutionary and flier than cloud city and / Superman the man wearing capes like Calrissian.”
On “Supreme Alchemy”, Madlib makes use of hi-hat samples as Kweli takes advantage of this solo opportunity to reflect on celebration while name-checking several rappers. The end of the LP is where the guest appearance finally pop their heads out. “Freequency” features Black Thought and his presence gives Black Star motivation to not get outshined on their own track (they do), and the production has the added detail coda of waves crashing. The title-track with Yummy Bingham closes the album as Bey compares Black Star’s revival to Anne Greene (Bey excels at deep cuts). Nearly a quarter of a century later, Black Star haven’t lost their touch at their hip-hop craft, but in light of that and with just nine tracks, “No Fear of Time” sounds more like an epilogue as opposed to a complete LP. While they clearly didn’t want to be typecasted with Dr. Dre’s “Detox”, the timing, presentation, and seemingly pacifying intention of “No Fear of Time” shine a light on its flaws which could’ve been avoided.