Black Star Keeps Shining

Can I  just start off by saying I love my life?  Thanks to good friendships and even better memories (despite the consumption of Cannabis)  I got the chance to take in Mos Def and Talib Kweli last night at the Electric Factory in Philly.  My homeboy deejays for Talib and was thoughtful enough to set some tickets aside for yours truly.  As always, they killed it.  But I'd be lying if I said that the show didn't get off to a slow start. It's no one's fault, really.  I just think the nuts and bolts of the show could have been tighter.  There was a considerable amount of downtime between sets, and I feel that took away from the consistent energy that could have been.

This marks the middle of Mos Def's tour for his latest album, The Ecstatic. Jay Electronica blessed the stage first.  I never saw him live before but was not disappointed.  He has lyrical skill combined with comedic timing.  His rendition of Rick James' Give It To Me, Baby tested the audience's knowledge of the lyrics.  I seemed to be the only one who knew the second verse. "Guess that's why I'm so elated!" Jay brought out former Floetry Songstress, Marsha Ambrosius who sang a quick breakdown of who she is and where she's been since the days of splitting from the Floacist, Natalie Stewart.  Also, Jay shared a bit of R&B trivia with the crowd when he mentioned that the King of Pop himself requested a song that Marsha penned which later became Michael's hit, Butterflies. Jay ended his set with The Pledge  (click on that, you won't be sorry) and then introduced Talib Kweli and my boy, DJ Chaps. Shout outs again to Chippytay for looking out with those tickets. Love ya, Bro.

Kweli did a select combination of songs from albums Train of Thought; Reflection Eternal, The Beautiful Struggle and most recently, Ear Drum.  Then he wowed everyone with an acappella  freestyle verse that showcased his propensity for breath control.  Your boy goes in!  By the time the beat dropped for Get By the crowd was well oiled for his Black Star counterpart. Like I said before, the lapse in time before he got onstage drew away from the energy, but not for long.  By the time the Mighty Mos hit the stage, all was forgiven. He showed up on the far right corner of the stage skillfully beating the hell out of some drums, which can't be easy to do.  I didn't even know it was him at first. But there he was, spitting verses while simultaneously playing the drums like Animal from the Electric Mayhem Band.  What? I can't be the only one who was raised up on a steady diet of Sesame Street and the Muppet Show. He did a lot of new songs from the latest album- but I honestly haven't heard it yet so it was hard to follow.  The real highlight came when Kweli returned for the duo to do the well known joints from the original Black Star album.  They both shined while performing Thieves in the Night and still had me pondering, "Where were you the day Hip-Hop died? Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to cry?" On Respiration, the only element missing was Common- who has one of my favorite verses he's ever spit on that particular track.

Mos Def went on to do more songs from his solo albums as only Black Dante can.  His voice was so full of pain on U R the One, that I still don't think he's over that woman yet. Of course, no show  of his would be complete without Ms. Fat Booty and he brought it in by first playing the entire sample of Aretha Franklin's One Step Ahead. Classic.  I've seen the Boogie Man perform before and he tends to end every show with Umi Says as folks make their way to the door.  But I'm a straggler and if I wasn't, I would have missed his hilarious version of  The Greatest Love Of All as sung by Mr. Randy Watson, from the What's Going Down episode of  "That's My Momma." Yup, even with all the soulful singing and critical delivery, he still found time to make us laugh courtesy of an unforgettable character from Coming to America. I can't leave without mentioning that he shared his opinion on the whole Kanye West VMA outburst. He admitted that there is time and place for everything and Kanye made a mistake.  Dude was feelin' himself but can you ever recall a time when he wasn't ? He also said that Jay Leno deserved a homegrown ass-whoopin' on live TV for asking West what his deceased mother would have said about his mishap. What the hell?! You just don't do that. And for it to go as far as President Obama being leaked as calling him "a jackass" for it- was a major fuck-up on the press' part. That's why I love Mos.  He is in-the-know and not afraid to voice his thoughts. 

All in all, it was a dope show.  My preference is that Talib & Mos perform together, but that doesn't take away from their ability to hold their own as individuals.  Let's hope a second Black Star album is on the horizon. Da Sharon Getty can't wait to review that! For now, fill your lungs with some Respiration.