What is the Black Star? For that matter, what does a Yasiin Bey (who remains, for now, best known by the recently retired, still-mighty Mos Def moniker) concert feel like? Montreal has seen Talib Kweli in action many times over since his inaugural ball at Le Medley back in the spring of 2003. Mos, meanwhile, had remained conspicuously absent from a city that embraced him hard from the get-go.
Local fans finally found answers to both questions last Sunday, when the Black Star liner, in all its grandeur, anchored down at Theatre l'Olympia. A tight set from local opener M.O. gave way to a hip hop awards ceremony honouring prime movers in the local scene, followed by just the right balance of agonized anticipation and respect for the clock.
Without any real sign of warning, our heroes strolled unassumingly to the front of the stage, literally loosening their ties and rolling up their sleeves. Grabbin' their mics, Black Star solemnly oathed that the "eighth light" would indeed shine bright, that night.
Crowd firmly in palm, the pair dipped quickly into their respectively revered classic solo debuts, belting out beloved collabos "This Means You" and "Know That" with easy-going rapport and very immediate energy. Both selections also sadly reminded me that semi-official third Star DJ Hi-Tek was not on the scene that night. Not that he was biologist sayin'. Too bad.
Hitting surprisingly early on with undisputed party-levellers "Definition" and "Re: Definition", Black Star proceeded to flip it up on some adlib shit, steering a weaving voyage through their single LP, one-off duets from their shared catalogue, and a new one or two, here or there. Certain well-known tracks became interludes to a bigger picture of singing, rapping, dancing that these seasoned showmen bring to their performance. If this at times left the audience a little perplexed, we were never once without awe.
The first query had been addressed. After 13 years and a single record, the Black Star is still, as far as these MCs go, "we". At this point, however, it wouldn't be unfair to say that a lotta eyes, early in the show, were strictly glued to Bey.
Watching closely, as I did, spectators may have observed a seemingly self-aware and perhaps even somewhat shy hip hop legend take his time getting comfortable with his audience. One with the stage, and with his longtime partner-in-rhyme, Bey appeared, after a few tracks, to even grow a little reluctant of the crowd adulation.
I could be imagining it all, but assuming I believe what I see with my own eyes, I would chalk it up to a couple of things. One: there were times when the audience, a packed house that otherwise went ballistic all the way through, could not come back on classic lines, a phenomenon way too prevalent at Montreal rap shows. Frankly, it is fucking embarrassing sometimes. And I won't even chalk that up to any language barrier because I know mad Franco heads get that shit straight. Black Star was visibly buggin' over it at one point.
Two – and I am nowhere near suggesting that Mos was upstaged or got lazy – but Talib was owning that room after awhile, straight up. To be extremely clear on this one, both performers gave insane love all the way through, but the man Bey definitely came off as introverted toward his own space and time, as compared to a bouncy, jovially aggressive Kweli, who spat every single bar of every single track like he wrote it just last week. I have seen the guy rap in clubs, an arena, his hometown, indoors, outdoors, opening, headlining, and most impressively with Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal. Last Sunday, the Blacksmith forged it with Montreal for keeps.
As one would hope/expect, the undisputedly livest moment of the evening came with a deep, dedicated "Respiration"; deep in its symbolic metaphor of the city as hip hop - which defines the track as an all-time true school numba-one-jam – and dedicated by Black Star to the memory of Dutch Garner, who was also honoured earlier in the evening by a call for lighters-up and a moment silence (kept by all but a few drunks) by his dear friend Mr. Nick Fury. At a moment where many heads in the city hung low, a reminder to keep them lifted was a blessing.
An hour-and-a-half of hardcore entertainment value left the crowd howling for more. Encore time proved no less exhilarating. Hearing Bey back Kweli on "Move Something" and "Get By" may have been worth the cost of admission alone. But watching him freak out, play air guitar, rain dance and love his damn self (while Kwa observed and commented bemusedly from the DJ booth, trying to wrap shit up) was truly an insight into what a solo Mos Def show might be. No, we didn't get "Ms. Fat Booty" or "B-Boy Document", but we got Black, on both sides.
Review by: Darcy MacDonald
"Darcy MacDonald is a weekly contributor to Montreal Mirror"
Mos Def & Talib Kweli "Black Star" Live on stage in Montreal
