photos by Tim Griffin

"I won't lie....never had the chance to fully listen to 88-Keys, but when he came out and spit a few bars here and there...I was impressed..... From tricking fans by saying he was bringing out Yeezy (Kanye West to newly converted hip-hop heads) and instead coming out with his shirt open, black glove and lip-syncing to his lead single, 88 battled a handful of boos, a wad of paper thrown at his story-telling assistant which came out in-between tracks and poor microphone sound problems... On a side note, he did, however, bring out Bilal...)...

...Eminem [who got a taste of Bruno's butt at the MTV Movie Awards last night] told you to "take some Big and some 'Pac, mix 'em up in a pot, sprinkle a lil' Big L on top, now what the f*ck do you got," well, let me do you one slightly better. You take some hip and some hop, pour it all in a pot, surprise fans with Mos and Talib and fo' sure they gon' pop......' (laugh) Okay, maybe I'll stick to the re-cap and news covering....but when I tell you the place exploded with energy upon the arrival of Black Star's front men.... [SOHH]

Mos Def and Talib Kweli reunited Black Star for not one, but two back-to-back shows at NYC's Nokia Theatre on Saturday night (5/30). More pictures, and some videos, from the early show below...

Continue reading "Mos Def & Talib Kweli were Black Star again Saturday @ Nokia Theater in NYC - pics & videos"

photos by Chris Graham

"Mos Def took the stage looking like a New Orleanean shaman.

He kept gesturing beyond the crowd to the Columbia River, saying, "The dream is real! Look around you!"

My favorite moment: Mos Def rapping over a personal favorite beat by Oxnard, CA artist called Oh No (find it on an album called "Dr. No's Oxperiment"). It's got a strong '60s/'70s Turkish psych-rock guitar line running the whole way through...I want to say the original is by an artist called Selda. Not sure. But I remember when heard the beat about two years ago, I went straight to the music store and bought the album it was sampled from. Pretty sure Selda is the correct name. I just bought a greatest hits album. I don't know a lot about Turkish/Anatolian psych-rock. Wish I knew more,

Anyhow, I'm one of those long-time Mos Def fans that loves his singing voice, but wishes he'd rap a little more. And there he was, killing one of my favorite beats, rapping like he meant it. Felt great." [Seattle Weekly]

That review comes from Mos Def's performance at the 2009 Sasquatch Festival in Washington State over Memorial Day Weekend. The pictures in this post are from that show too.

Tonight (5/30), Mos Def reunites with Talib Kweli for two Black Star shows at NYC's Nokia Theatre. The early show (with 88 Keys and Black Violin) is sold out, but tickets still remain for the late one (with Blaqstarr).

As the NY Daily News pointed out in a feature yesterday, 88-Keys is also known as a "Kanye West protege". Special guests are definitely rumored at tonight's show.

More pictures from Sasquatch below...

Continue reading "Mos Def played Sasquatch (pics) -- Black Star reunites tonight"