Black Star Soundset 2019
Photo Credit: Shaughn Cooper for Okayplayer
Photo Credit: Shaughn Cooper for Okayplayer
Both Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey spoke at length about the new album during a public speaking event at this year's Sole DXB.
Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey have offered more details on their forthcoming Black Star album. During this year's Sole DXB festival in Dubai, the pair discussed the album alongside Bobbito Garcia, and explained how it came about.
READ: From Surprise Reunions To A New Album: A Timeline Of Yassin Bey And Talib Kweli's Black Star
"People kept saying 'when is the next album coming up', so much that it got to a point that for me, personally, I caught myself also saying 'when is the next album out' in all my conversations with Yasiin," Kweli said, according to The National, a publication from the Middle East. "I had to check myself because that can't just be what our relationship is all about."
Kweli then went on to say that he didn't talk about music or Black Star with Bey when he went to go visit him in South Africa. His trip to South Africa then culminated in him and Bey hanging out in different European cities during their respective solo tours, which ultimately led to the two reuniting to work on new Black Star music.
Bey recounted how the pair recorded tracks in hotel rooms in cities like Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.
"We would record, go out, see the city, eat good food, come back and listen to the recordings and we would think 'yeah, I like that,'" Bey said.
"I knew we were in good stead when we were in Copenhagen. We would record one song there and by the time we got to Amsterdam we had three songs. When I heard those three songs I was like 'we are golden,'" he continued. "That is my template for an album. The first three songs that you record will be the vibe of the whole record. Whatever follows after this will follow the tone of those three."
"This new album is ridiculous," Bey said at another point during the conversation. "And I don’t really care if you all don’t like it. This just means we like different things and that’s fine."
Kweli also offered some details on the album, and how it wasn't going to be a club-friendly project.
"There is no [song] for the ladies or one for the clubs," he said. "We played the album for (US comic) Marlon Wayans and he was like ‘yo, this is dope. But you all need one where they can feel you in the clubs. And I was like ‘Marlon, you still go to clubs?"
There still is no official release date for Black Star's new album. Bey has assured fans that it's coming "soon, soon!" though.
Source: The National
