One word: dope.
via HipHopDX.
Mos Def and Talib Kweli have launched blackstarhub.com, a pretty basic Tumblr blog. It’s going to be your source for some free tunes and hopefully the launch of the Black Star Aretha Franklin mixtape. Check out the latest track You already knew.
Oh man, I cannot wait for this! If you haven’t seen the show, Dexter, you are not living your life the proper way. It’s a huge success, and follows Michael C. Hall as a serial killer that you can’t help but root for. And our boy Mos Def will be appearing on the upcoming season. I’ve been a fan of Mos’ acting career (mostly), and I’m excited to see what he does with this role.
According to Billboard, Mos will play “a hardened ex-con who claims to have found religion yet seems to continually find himself surrounded by violence,” and Dexter will show “who he really is.”
You can’t fault Mos Def for kickin it on Yo Gabba Gabba! This show has managed to lock down some pretty major artists (including the Roots). Mos plays a superhero in this that has to go calm down a monster. It’s equal parts cute and awesome.
If you’re like me, you may feel that Talib and Mos have never stood a chance. Their solo stuff so far has just not been able to live up to the astounding collaboration record they released as Black Star. Sure there are standout tracks every once in a while, and Mos’ Black on Both Sides is fantastic. But somehow, I can never shake the feeling that Black Star was close to the perfect record.
By that I mean one of those records you just don’t ever want to change tracks on. You play it through over and over again. One end to the other.
Pitchfork is reporting that they got together for a track on Mos’ new album The Ecstatic, and have finally released the video for it. I like the track.
The BlakRoc project is getting mad press these days, so we thought we’d update our last post and bring it back to all you loyal readers. As you know, the concept is that the Black Keys (a rock band) have collaborated with 11 hip hop/R&B artists. They’ve done stuff with the RZA, Mos Def, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monche, and Q-Tip.
Now, I haven’t been a big fan of these type of collaborations before. I mean, quite honestly, Mos Def’s affinity for this (remember The New Danger?) style has been the most to me, but even that didn’t win me over. Still, BlakRoc does a decent job of blending this all together in a way that sounds dope.
Below is their collaboration with our man, the mighty Mos Def to give you a little taste.
In collaborations-to-be-excited-about news, blues group The Black Keys have teamed up with several of hip-hop’s most talented rappers on a project known as BLAKROC. Featuring the likes of Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA Pharoahe Monch and Ludacris, BLAKROC promises to be one of the rare rap/rock crossover attempts that suceeeds. For evidence of its potential, check out this behind-the-scenes look at the making of a track with Mos Def and Jim Jones (for more, check out the BLAKROC website):
Since we here at 4080Records seem to love documentaries oh so very much, I thought I’d keep going with the trend.
Get ready to spend 49 minutes with Mos Def in Japan.
I’m not sure where these are coming from, but this little video of what Mos Def would do if he was president is amazing. Most of his ideas aren’t really that surprising based on the stuff he’s said in the past, but I particularly cared for the way he ended things….by declaring a 100 year moratorium on several phrases including “in the club”, “that’s hot”, and “shortie”.
The best part is that he even says he’s not sure how the world would get better if he banned the word shortie, but he’s sure it will. Hell, I’m sure it would too.
It’s true. Apparently the police in Las Vegas have issued a warrant for his arrest.
Why would anyone want to arrest Mos? Good question. According to Pitchfork, Mos allegedly was in a confrontation with some photographer at the Men’s Apparel and Garment Industry Convention. Leave it up to Mos to get into a tussle at what sounds like one of the most boring conventions in the world.
Apparently Mos got upset at a photog named Volker Correll and allegedly smashed his camera and then took off with the pieces. Frankly, I find it hard to believe (especially that he would steal the pieces), but the warrant is out there.
Now we just have to see when or if Mos will show up to answer the plea. It’s probably taken a little while for the news to get to him, and I expect he’ll cut some sort of deal with the LVPD, but that remains to be seen.
This isn’t the first time Mos has been in trouble with the cops, but last time it was for a much better reason. He was arrested back in 2006 for performing his song “Katrina Klap” outside of the MTV VMAs without a permit. The song was highly critical of President Bush’s handling of Hurricaine Katrina.
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