While
Puff Daddy
and his followers continued to dictate the direction
hip-hop
would take into the millennium,
Mos Def
and
Talib Kweli
surfaced from the underground to pull the sounds in the opposite direction. Their 13 rhyme fests on this superior, self-titled debut as
Black Star
show that
old-school rap
still sounds surprisingly fresh in the sea of overblown vanity productions. There's no slack evident in the tight wordplays of
Def
Kweli
as they twist and turn through sparse,
jazz
-rooted rhythms calling out for awareness and freedom of the mind. Their viewpoints stem directly from the teachings of
Marcus Garvey
, the legendary activist who fought for the rights of blacks all around the world in the first half of the 20th century.
's ideals are sure lofty; not only are they out to preach
Garvey
's words, but they also hope to purge
rap
music of its negativity and violence. For the most part, it works. Their wisdom-first philosophy hits hard when played off their lyrical intensity, a bass-first production, and stellar scratching. While these MCs don't have all of the vocal pizzazz of
A Tribe Called Quest
's
Phife
Q-Tip
at their best, flawless tracks like the cool
bop
of
"K.O.S. (Determination)"
"Definition"
hint that
is only the first of many brilliantly executed positive statements for these two street poets. ~ Jason Kaufman