Black Star Recruits Black Thought For New Madlib-Produced Single ‘Mineral Mountain’

Black Star meets Black Thought on the first single from Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli‘s upcoming album, their first in 24 years.

After decades of anticipation and speculation, the Brooklyn duo finally confirmed the imminent arrival of a new Black Star album, No Fear of Time, last week.

Produced entirely by prolific beat wizard Madlib, the nine-song project is set to arrive on May 3 exclusively via the podcast network Luminary, where Mos and Kweli host their Midnight Miracle podcast with Dave Chappelle.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Black Star (@blackstarkeepshining)

Giving fans their first taste of the forthcoming album, “Mineral Mountain” finds the Black Star boys sharpening their steel against the legendary Roots MC over a psychedelic, hard-hitting backdrop from the Beat Konducta.

“My history, what can I say? It ain’t perfect/It ain’t on Wikipedia, you can’t search it/The thing about graffiti is it ain’t cursive/If it don’t make you feel a way it ain’t worth it,” Black Thought raps before namedropping Common, Tesla and the late, great J Dilla.

Much like the album from which it’s taken, “Mineral Mountain” is currently only available to stream via the Luminary app, although a preview can be heard below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Riki P. (@itsrikip_)

Any fan of either Black Star or Black Thought will know their roots run deep. Aside from their Soulquarians affiliation, the trio teamed up on the Pete Rock-produced “Flying High” remix of Mos and Kweli’s “Respiration” in 1999.

Black Thought also shared the mic with Mos Def on The Roots’ “Double Trouble,” “Rising Down” and “The Hurricane,” while trading rhymes with Talib Kweli on songs such as “Guerrilla Monsoon Rap,” “Rolling With Heat” and “I Will Not Apologize.”

Hailed by Kanye West as “the best album since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” No Fear of Time serves as the long-awaited follow-up to Black Star’s debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, which arrived back in September 1998 via Rawkus Records.

Featuring cult classics such as “Definition,” “Brown Skin Lady” and the Common-assisted “Respiration,” the project peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard 200 while launching Mos and Kweli’s careers, both as a duo and solo artists.

Mos would follow up with his magnum opus Black on Both Sides in 1999, while Kweli forged another dynamic duo with Hi-Tek (as Reflection Eternal) and released Train of Thought in 2000.