About
Black Star recordings and appearances over the next two decades were rare. Bey released his first solo album, Black on Both Sides, in 1999. Kweli and Hi-Tek issued Train of Thought, the first Reflection Eternal LP, in 2000. Throughout the early 2000s, Bey and Kweli delivered Black Star cuts for a handful of compilations and soundtracks. These included "Little Brother" (produced by Jay Dee for The Hurricane), "Money Jungle" (recorded with Ron Carter and Big John Patton for the Duke Ellington tribute and AIDS benefit compilation Red Hot + Indigo), and "Brown Sugar (Raw)" (produced by Kanye West for the soundtrack of Brown Sugar, a film in which Bey starred). Black Star performed at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in 2004, as documented in the film of the same title, and continued to record on a sporadic basis, sometimes appearing on one another's solo projects. More promisingly, in 2011, the duo released the Madlib collaboration "Fix Up" and a track from a planned mixtape tribute to Aretha Franklin. By then, a second proper Black Star album had reportedly been in the works for over half a decade. It didn't reach fruition until May 2022, when No Fear of Time became available exclusively through a subscription podcast network. Madlib produced all nine of its tracks, and featured roles were limited to Black Thought and Yummy Bingham. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi
From 🇺🇸 United States
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