Journal 9 Jake Bustamante

Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star is one of my favorite rap albums, and it is interesting to be asked to delve deeper and look at it through an analytical view. Before this album was released in the late 1990's, both rappers were independent and had both been heavily influenced by the gangsta rap and hip hop cultures that had been solidified and a dominant force in the black community. However, the artists collaborated and used that influence to deviate from the traditional gangsta rap style and integrate current events, philosophies, and ideals of living in Brooklyn.
     The album works within the constraints of the hip hop genre musically with the beats on looping structure, as well as the traditional rapping style. The word "generic" will never come up when trying to describe this album because the sound is unique enough to differentiate it from traditional hip hop and gangsta rap, but at the same time, the listener hears about the struggles of living a hard life growing up poor and in a bad neighborhood.
    The album deviates from the genre constraints of hip hop because this could be considered one of the first forms of "alternative rap". Both artists had been informed of the social and economic situations behind the development and rise of gangsta rap. The lyrics are the biggest contributor on how the album is different from traditional rap, starting with the track "Definition". In this track, the word "black" is used with positive connotation after it had been so long used as a negative word that rappers used to express their negative feelings. And on the subject of negative feelings, Black Star sways away from the idea of misogyny and boasting and instead integrates the ideas of informing the public with positive messages. "Brown-Skin Lady", for example proclaims how brown women should be proud of their looks and how beautiful they are. A feeling of realization also emerges from the song "Thieves in the Night" because the whole track is about how America seems like a great place until you look deeper and see that the government has an economic and social advantage over the life that the people of gangsta rap and hip hop live. Overall, the album set a much different tone for rap and the way people could look at conventional hip hop was altered with the release of this album.