Blackstar @ The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/04	By Knowfrillz

As I traveled to Philadelphia listening to some of my favorite selections from “Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Blackstar”, “Train of Thought”, “Black On Both Sides” and “Quality”, I was taken back to my backpacker days when I rode for all things “underground” and hated all things “commercial” and “popular.” The two artists I was going to see that evening, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, had been icons, almost deities in that world.

I had been a fan since the very beginning, and was still trying to hold onto my appreciation for both Mos Def and Talib Kweli and the development of their respective and collective art forms. Over the years, my enjoyment of their music had been slowly deteriorating as each passing year went by with no new release from Mos, other than the random single or freestyle popping up once in a blue, and less than stellar albums from Talib.

Regardless of how I felt about their more recent material, the two of them have been responsible for some of the most innovative music in Hip-Hop for the past 7 years or so and I wanted to see if they still “had it.” Well, as I discovered that night, not only do they still “have it”, but they have a lot more in store.

After a great but poorly received DJ set from MC/DJ (and “underground” legend in his own right), J Live, the anticipation of what a Blackstar show in 2004 truly impacted me. These two gentlemen were responsible for 20% of my top 10 MCs list for many years and some of my favorite Hip-Hop albums of all time. But as familiar as I was with their music, I had no idea what I was in for.

A thin figure appeared from the left side of the stage dressed from head to toe in dark blue, complete with a ski mask hiding his face. He was joined by two security people on either side of the stage and two men who stood behind a set of turntables and an ASR 10 respectively; all with covered faces. As the “mystery man” began to croon about “the most beautiful boogeyman” as he performed “The Boogie Man Song”, class was in session, Professor Bize began the lecture and it did not let out until each person in attendance understood the lesson. And that lesson was that Mos Def and Talib Kweli are still making great music.

After running through a few of the songs from his latest release “The New Danger” and slowly coming out of his “boogeyman” disguise, Mos Def was joined by another masked man who was ready to begin his portion of the lesson. As Talib Kweli removed his mask, the crowd went wild and it was on from that point.

For the next 2 hours, Mos and Talib traded songs from their various solo efforts as well as their joint catalog and entertained not only the crowd, but themselves as well. There was fervor in them both when the either of the 2 DJs dropped Blackstar classics like “Astronomy (8th Light)”, “Definition”, “Brown Skin Lady” and “Respiration.” But as I watched these two great artists on stage, I was taken aback by how much each man was into the other’s solo music. It was as if each was the other’s #1 fan. When Mos would go into new songs like “The Rape Over”, “Bedstuy Parade & Funeral March” and “Close To The Edge” as well as selections like “Mathematics”, “Hip Hop” and Ms. Fat Booty”, Talib played the ultimate hypeman complete with adlibs, and finishing bars. When Talib performed “The Blast”, “Too Late”, “Get By” and “Back Up Off Me”, Mos was often zoning out to Talib’s compositions when he was not spitting the lyrics right along with Talib word for word and doing his hypeman duties. And that was the most enjoyable aspect of the entire show.

Back when “Mos Def & Talib Kweli are…” dropped, there was a synergy that had been missing in Hip Hop since the troubles with A Tribe Called Quest began. And when I first heard that album, I felt that Mos and Talib were going to carry the torch for us Native Tongue Hip-Hop” aficionados. But as each artist has gone on in their solo careers, there has more speculation that the magic they once captured musically was gone forever. Well, I was a witness to that magic in 2004 that night. Mos and Talib are musical twins separated at birth and appear to have a bond that will only continue to strengthen as each pushes the other to new levels of creative expression.