Black Star is an American hip hop duo from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1996, the duo is composed of rappers Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli. The duo is named after The Black Star Line, a shipping company founded by Marcus Garvey. Their critically acclaimed debut album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, was released on September 29, 1998. After decades of only releasing singles and appearing on compilations, Black Star released their sophomore studio album, No Fear of Time, May 3, 2022 on the podcasting platform Luminary.
Black Star arose from the underground movement of the late 1990s, which was in large part due to Rawkus Records, an independent record label stationed in New York City. They, together with other members of the Native Tongues Posse, helped shape underground alternative rap, bringing it into the mainstream. Both Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli have gone on to greater commercial and critical success in their solo careers.
In 2001, Black Star performed "Money Jungle" with Ron Carter and John Patton for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. In 2002, the song "Hater Players" was used in an episode of The Wire, "The Cost". In 2005, hip hop website TheSituation.co.uk reported Kweli said that a new Black Star album was "in the pipeline".
A second album, to be produced entirely by Madlib, was confirmed to be finished in November 2019. It was announced in 2022 that the album would be titled No Fear of Time. It was released on May 3 exclusively on the podcast platform Luminary. On June 20, 2023, the album was released on Bandcamp.
Performed twice live on SNL, Season 48, Episode 6, hosted by Dave Chappelle, on 12 November, 2022.