Jabee Pays Homage to Mos Def and Talib Kweli on 'Black Star'

OKC-based rapper Jabee is proud to announce his upcoming EP "Good" is due for release on December 16th. "Good" is produced entirely by Grammy award winning producer Conductor Williams and includes features from Boldy James and Blu. Along with the announcement, Jabee shares the project's first single "Black Star."

Jabee Williams is an Emmy Award-winning rapper from Oklahoma City whose music, according to Chuck D. from Public Enemy, "has the potential to change the world." The decorated lyricist has toured with Run The Jewels and Murs, and has been featured on Sway in the Morning, MTV, XXL, Complex, The Source and Vibe.

In 2020, Jabee released his full-length album This World Is So Fragile and Cruel I'm Glad I Got You which debuted at #3 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart, and #37 overall on iTunes. The album was released during the summer of 2020, during peak COVID-19 limitations, but was widely received locally and nationally.

Jabee's forthcoming "Good" EP is produced entirely by Grammy award winning beatmaker Conductor Williams. The esteemed producer has worked with Tyler the Creator, Westside Gunn, Mach-Hommy, and many more. Jabee on working with Conductor Williams, "I've known him for years , and we worked together in the past. I'm humbled that he's down to fit me in while working on so many projects with way bigger names."

In addition to providing stellar production to the project, Conductor Williams also provided direction when it came to Jabee's songwriting. He explains, "Songwriting was organic because Conductor Williams would give directions or themes in the samples or beat titles, so I followed his lead."

"Good" is Jabee's third EP release of 2022. Earlier this year, Jabee released "Am" produced by Derek Minor and most recently shared his EP "I" produced entirely by Blu. All of the projects are part of a full album titled, "Am I Good Enough" which is due out in 2023.

Jabee explaining the rollout, "My last album "This World Is So Fragile and Cruel I'm Glad I Got You" came out in the middle of Covid and I felt like I missed an opportunity to make a bigger impact, so I wanted to release something in 4 parts to spread out throughout the year."

As for the inspiration behind the title Jabee states, "After all I've done and the release of my last album feeling like I'm so close to reaching a new level each time but not getting there. I don't know if it's one song away, one verse , a release, a write up or cosign away from reaching the next level. I've been asking myself "Am I good enough""

Lead single Black Star is a grimy record with a polished golden era sound courtesy of Conductor William's intricate production. Jabee delivers potent verses layered with quotables while Scoopay brings a smooth well-suited performance on the hook. Coincidently, the track was written before Mos Def and Talib Kweli released their long-awaited Black Star album. After No Fear of Time came out, Jabee changed the direction of the song from being a letter to the legendary duo to being inspired by them.

Jabee will be performing live on December 3rd for his EP Release Party at Beer City Music Hall. Tickets are available here.

Listen to the new single here: