"Grand opening, grand closing."
Those are Jay-Z's words from his song "Encore," and they perfectly apply to Black Star's current situation.
Talib Kweli said in April that a follow-up to the New York group's 1998 classic Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star was forthcoming. He was just looking for the right deal to release the Madlib produced-project.
Kwa then spoke to Jimmy Fallon last month and said the album was in its final stages. But something went wrong since then, which Kweli explained after a fan asked about the LP.
Too many interlopers and culture vultures in the way. This album been done for over a year. I paid for the whole album myself. Too many greedy people in the way stopping us from working with Madlib. I wash my hands of it at this point. https://t.co/UUz54NHEGP
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) July 7, 2020
I'm tired of being silent about this. I tried my best y'all. Flew around the globe. Paid for this out of pocket. All for the culture. I'm a fan of Black Star too. I want to see this come out as bad as y'all do, or… https://t.co/2zHbZ5pmqZ
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) July 8, 2020
It's managers and lawyers not a label that's in the way. https://t.co/W7KfvMJrvI
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) July 8, 2020
I paid for it to be recorded. That doesn't make me the owner of Madlib beats. We have to reach a deal with Madlib but there's people in the way who are trying to make money for themselves off this deal. https://t.co/UhizhFIbeL
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) July 8, 2020
Yasiin Bey, who dropped his Mos Def moniker years ago, has been silent about the new project. But maybe he'll give some insight about it down the road.
Are you disappointed that a new Black Star album probably won't see the light of day?