Coming off of their first album since their infamous 1998 debut, the duo of Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli reformed their illustrious Black Star moniker for their debut performance on Saturday Night Live. The Dave Chappelle-hosted episode saw Black Star perform “So Be It” and “The Main Thing is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing” off of their brand new album No Fear of Time, which was exclusively released through the podcast platform Luminary. The new album was entirely produced by the prolific and elusive producer Madlib who also made a rare public appearance for Black Star’s SNL debut.
You can see the pride and love in Chapelle’s eyes when he introduced his longtime friends and collaborators who inevitably tore down the stage. For both performances, Madlib was perched with his DJ equipment as Bey and Kweli used the off-kilter darkness of his instrumental to remind the world why the Black Star name will never die.
24 years after their debut, Black Star sounds as hungry and younger than ever. Their debut performance on SNL was a milestone for the artists and acted as a reminder as to why Chappelle introduced Black Star as “Brooklyn’s Finest”.
Check out both performances below:
