ALBUM REVIEW: Black Star - No Fear Of Time

          

 ALBUM REVIEW!

BLACK STAR:

NO FEAR OF TIME

 

 

 

24 Years,
And finally
it's here.

Talib Queli And Yasiin Bey
As Blackstar

No Fear Of Time.

From the moment you turn on this record, Madlib's ethereal production reels you in with spacey synthesizers. The first track, O.G. Is one of the album's highlights, Although, it suffers from a very weak start, not nearly as triumphant to justify the wait of this album, there is no energy of reunion. That said, after the first chorus, the song pick's itself up, partially because Yasiin's hooks act as the glue of the album, preventing it from becoming bland. Talib then follows this killer hook with a great verse, both in substance and flow, boasting lines such as "YouTube, they feeding us through a catheter" and "That bust open your cantaloupe flow."

Track 2 keeps up this pace, over a trademark Madlib beat, while the track does not have as good a hook as the previous track, it makes up for it in the chemistry between Yasiin and Talib. As they spit solid bars for 4 minutes straight. 

Track 3 features more of a soulful feel, First Talib drops a verse about materials, drugs, and "vegan chicks with the tofu." This is followed by a poetic verse from yasiin, about nobility and magic.

Track 4 is layered in buttery reverb, and sees the introduction of a motif throughout the album in a chorus driven bird whistle, while it sounds nice it can feel abrasive on higher volumes. Notably, this song does not feature Talib Queli, but the song is short enough where it can get away without him.

Speaking of length, this album is only 33 minutes long, drawing comparisons to 2018's KIDS SEE GHOSTS. And the chemistry found here is very similar to that of Kanye West and Kid Cudi, With Yasiin, like Cudi, delivering the hooks which ground the album and keep the pacing enjoyable. However I do not think this album is as boundary pushing as KIDS SEE GHOSTS, and I feel this can be attributed to Madlib as these beats sound like they would fit on Madvillainy, Or any other Madlib project for that matter.

Track 5, titled "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing" varies from the other tracks in this album as it feels horrorcore inspired, I could see Clipping. Or even Three 6 Mafia over this beat. The lyrics certainly match, with the word "Automatic" being repeated numerous times, along with the mantra "Everything is not for sale Everybody pays a price."

Track 6 is fine, there is not much to say as it is more of the same, although i'm not complaining, it's still great, it does lack a hook though.

Track 7, Supreme Alchemy, features some pointed bars over a spacey instrumental, there is also some slight vocal processing akin to that of overdrive. This track is more or less O.G. pt 2, just slightly shorter.

Track 8, Freequency, is by far my favourite. It is the longest track on the album, at nearly 7 minutes, and every second is justified. Black thought opens the track with a pristine verse, and both Yasiin and Talib keep this energy going, albeit with hints of existentialism. The track ends with an AMAZING hook by Yasiin, reminiscent of Kids See Ghosts, and it is purely ethereal.

The closer, No fear of time opens with a verse by Talib which is overflowing in substance, followed by another great verse by Yasiin. The track then ends in a monologue about Black Star and the general hip hop scene.

Something I have not touched on is this album's Distribution, which i feel is not at all justifiable as this is such an anticipated record, in order to listen to No Fear Of Time, you must sign up to a proprietary podcast streaming service called Luminary (Link Below)

Overall this album was thoroughly enjoyable, and even though it had slight caveats and was not boundary pushing, it was a great time and seems well-thought out

Overall: 8.9/10

Tell me, what did you think of this album? click over to those comments and let me know.

No Fear Of Time: https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/black-star/no-fear-of-time/98e6f903-97d8-4384-9a3d-00976db2ffce