In the time honored hip-hop tradition of vaporware albums, Talib Kweli has confirmed in Rolling Stone that the follow up to Black Star’s landmark 1998 album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star won’t be out this year.
The long-teased-about, oft-delayed album isn’t on the back burner due to animosity between Kweli and Yasiin Bey (the dude who used to go by Mos Def) but commitments to other projects, with Kweli adding “I would love to get back into it whenever he’s ready.”
The duo is still considering making the (hopefully) forthcoming record themed around Aretha Franklin, inspired by a late-night listening session in 2011, the same late-night collaboration that led to “Fix Up.”
With that unsurprising news out of the way, Talib Kweli has a new solo album coming up. Prisoner of Conscious, available April 23, has been in the works for quite a while, apparently since before Kweli even began production on 2011’s Gutter Rainbows (TMT Review). Kweli is putting the album out on his own Blacksmith/Javotti Media label. Look for guest spots from Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, and probably some others.
Tourdates:
01.19.13 - Washington, DC - Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar (DJ set)
01.20.13 - New York, NY - S.O.B.S.
01.31.13 - New York, NY - IFC Center (movie screening and discussion)
02.09.13 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore (Dilla Day)
02.22.13 - Lawrence, KS - The Granada
02.26.13 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
02.27.13 - Providence, RI - Fete
• Talib Kweli: http://www.talibkweli.com
More about: Black Star, Talib Kweli
