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Respiration (Remix) Blackstar feat. Black Thought

What can’t you say about BlackStar? They made being “conscious” cool. This song has a very smooth vibe to it, and with phenomenal artists, that rightly could and are solo acts in their own right.

Talib pieces together his verse like a heart surgeon carefully aligning arteries, veins, and capillaries to produce an opening verse that pumps with lyrical ferocity. I seriously believe there is not a single line in his verse that does not contain a simile or metaphor. And like the hook sang with style by Mos Def, the verse seems as though he has a lot on his mind, with the fast flow and imagery.

Mos Def. What can he not do? I will just sum it up with the best line in his verse I believe – “Get yours, get it right; Get down, get paid, get ass, get around; Get on, get fly, get jig and get high; Live to get and you'll only end up getting by.” Word on that.

BlackThought brings it home with a solid performance.

People forget Hip-Hop is so many different movements – political protest, the voice of the streets, the story of struggle, the story of triumph – but the key element is that it’s story telling at its finest. Respiration (Remix) is a fine specimen of hip hop then.

Yeah it dropped in 1999 but I have to say that it’s important to throw it back every now and again. So recline, close your eyes, and vibe to this one; it’s not a banger, but it is not meant to be - rather than beating you over the head with a story, it just slowly sinks in through lyrical flourish and style.