No Fear of Time delivers the fast-paced wordplay and dizzyingly busy production you might have expected from the pairing. Bowie’s twist involves some canny gender-bending ("she punched me like a dude"), a robbery, and World War I, but the gist is the same—humans will always resort to a language of savagery when necessary, no matter where or when. In May, it was discovered that if you expose the vinyl release of David Bowie‘s final album Blackstar to light, it reveals the image of a galaxy. Fear doesn’t seem interested in being easily unpacked in the way that its predecessor yearned to teach: Like the podcast, the new record runs short but manages to meander on its way to a neat conclusion.

David Bowie – ★ (Blackstar) (2016, MPO, 180 Gram, Vinyl

Both rappers guested on Ye’s The College Dropout; in the Netflix docuseries Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy we learned that Ye really wanted to produce for Black Star. A few pops and crackles from dust that was already on the record before opening the shrink wrap, but still very clean.For once, in front of such greatness, I would not debate too much about technicalities, 1st press 2015 vs 2nds 2016 etc. They reunited now and then — on the booming “Know That” from Bey’s 1999 debut Black on Both Sides, on the remix for “Get By” from Kweli’s 2002 debut Quality, at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party in 2004, on the joyous “History” from Bey’s 2009 album The Ecstatic — while Black Star was remembered as an indie-rap classic.

Blackstar Album Review | Pitchfork David Bowie: Blackstar Album Review | Pitchfork

He is popular music’s ultimate Lazarus: Just as that Biblical figure was beckoned by Jesus to emerge from his tomb after four days of nothingness, Bowie has put many of his selves to rest over the last half-century, only to rise again with a different guise. It is a designated retailer exclusive available from FNAC in France, JPC in Germany and JB Hi-Fi in Australia. See also: "Girl Loves Me," which has Bowie yelping in the slang originated by A Clockwork Orange’s ultraviolent droogs. For now, though, he’s making the most of his latest reawakening, adding to the myth while the myth is his to hold. Hall doing his best impression of Bowie’s corrupted, drunk, and immortal alien from the 1976 art film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Bowie’s longtime studio wingman Tony Visconti is back as co-producer, bringing along with him some continuity and a sense of history. Jazzy inflections, electronic filigree and stark soundscapes collide elegantly amidst that stentorian voice, and whether or not Bowie put this together as a farewell, he couldn't have done it better if he'd tried.

Black Star: ‘No Fear of Time’ Album Review - Vulture Black Star: ‘No Fear of Time’ Album Review - Vulture

You could argue that Madlib beats are bringing something different out of them — that all the heady Hi-Tek, J. Burns suffered from schizophrenia throughout his life; he once tried to kill himself by jumping out of a mental hospital window and eventually committed suicide by putting himself in front of a train in 1985. In the edit page, go to the 'Metadata' tab and add your Juno artist, label or release page for listeners to purchase your release / releases.Every day, somebody asks me where all the real MCs is at,” Kweli announced at the top of “Hater Players. Cats who claiming they hard be mad fags,” Bey snapped on Black Star’s “Re:Definition,” “so I run through ’em like flood water through sandbags. Even the group’s name is a provocation of a sort, a reference to Jamaican author and activist Marcus Garvey’s ill-fated plan for ferrying Black Americans back to Africa. The debut episode goes into chilling detail about trying to stay in touch with Amy Winehouse as the singer was in the throes of multiple addiction.