The Black Star, the rap duo of Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, are a politically conscious rap duo out of the streets of New York, grown out of the same underground movement that produced Tupac and Biggie. Following similar themes that those rap icons did, Black Star used there platform and experience in New York City to make politically conscious rap music that puts a voice to the places and people it represents, Black Americans living in poverty around crime and racism. One song that places an emphasis on these ideas of crime, poverty, and racism (especially by the police) is in their song Respiration, which focuses of telling the struggles and feelings of those who live in urban America.
In the song, the group paints a picture of urban life highlighting key points in the struggle for those who live in what we would would consider “The Ghettos” of cities all across America. Key lines in the song such as “thirsty criminals take pockets, Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches, Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is preposterous, Stay alive, you play or die, no options, no Batman and Robin, Can’t tell between the cops and the robbers, they both partners, they all heartless, With no conscience”. Even in this one short section the duo portrays the 3 key points of poverty, crime, and racism and how their perception of the city off of these lines. The section “Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is preposterous” shows the contrast of how even through the city is larger than life there is a cost to siad lifestyle one that many people can’t afford, especially when searching for high rise apartments or homes, this places them to life stuck in the ghetto surrounded by poverty as a result of the cost of living. The second idea, crime, is portrayed through the line “ thirsty criminals take pockets, Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches” this line shows that while they are working class, they are still preyed on by petty criminals, rather than if they were robbing those who could afford to be robbed, it notes a gross injustice that those who work hard for their money and who still have nothing are the victims of crime by those who are in the same position, struggling economically or seeking to make a gain off of other people. The last idea of racism is portrayed in the last line “ Stay alive, you play or die, no options, no Batman and Robin, Can’t tell between the cops and the robbers, they both partners, they all heartless, With no conscience”. Illustrated in this line is an idea that we see in a lot of rap music, which is the villainization of the police in urbans areas like the one being depicted by Black Star. The relationship between blacks and police has been a key theme of racism in America because of overuse of force and poor judgment made by some cops. In this particular line, Black Star compares the police to the criminals in that both are forces in impoverished urban areas with contribute to the continued oppression. By looking at this one line, we can see how Black Star illustrates the themes of racism, poverty, and crime and how their perceptions of it have been based because of what we see in impoverished urban areas.
Overall Black Star utilizes their platform as entertainers to talk about the social injustice that we can observe not only in New York where they originated from but all across the country. Links to the song and lyrics to the song Respiration are provided below for anyone who is interested.
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTnog5RRQo
Lyrics: https://play.google.com/music/preview/Ty6qoybdnfyeoqb2zugwfx4dmxm?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics&u=0#
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The Power of Song 