352 LENOX AVENUE · HARLEM, NEW YORK
Store. Outlet. Stage.
Black Star Music & Video sold movies and music on Lenox Avenue. It was also where street DVDs got distributed, where battle rappers squared off in a room too small for the crowd, and where artists previewed albums for Harlem first. People called it the Mecca. This is the record of what happened there.
01 · THE STORE
Films and music for the culture
Black films and Black music under one roof. Pam Grier rarities and blaxploitation sat next to movies starring the newest East Coast rappers, along with books and a deep run of soul, funk and hip-hop CDs. You could rent it or you could buy it.
02 · THE OUTLET
Where street DVDs got distributed
If your DVD was on Black Star’s shelves, you existed. Smack, The Come Up, Cocaine City and The Raw Report moved across its counter, and independent filmmakers carried their titles to Lenox by hand. Mail orders reached customers far from Harlem, people inside included. As late as 2018, SlapDVD Magazine was still coming through to get product on the shelves.
03 · THE STAGE
A room too small for the crowd
The store doubled as a venue. It was home to the Lion’s Den battle circuit, and battle nights filled it wall to wall. In December 2012, A$AP Rocky played Long.Live.A$AP there for friends and press before the album came out, with fans packed outside on Lenox.
THE STAGE
Nights on Lenox
Black Star was small. When something happened there, Lenox Avenue filled up.
DECEMBER 2012
A$AP Rocky’s listening party
Weeks before Long.Live.A$AP came out, Rocky played it for friends, family and journalists at Black Star. A crowd built up outside, and he ended up posing for photos at the store window.
MAY 18, 2013
Hell Up In Harlem
Battle Rap Media brought a full card to the store: Tori Doe vs. Krissy Yamagucci in the headliner, plus Raine vs. Persia. The advice to fans was to show up an hour early, because “Black Star is small and it will be packed.”
THE LION’S DEN
A battle circuit with a home address
The Source called Black Star the home of the renowned Lion’s Den battle circuit. Battle nights put rappers face to face inside a working video store.
Source: The Village Voice, January 2013
Source: The Source, May 2013
Source: The Source, May 2013
Shaq coming through, release nights, battles we haven’t listed yet: if you have the footage or the date, send it in.
THE TAPES
Black Star on Camera
Tapes shot inside the store: battles, signings, listening parties and cyphers. They play on Hood Box Office, where the rest of the DVD era lives. Rights belong to the people who filmed them.
01 Battle Rap History: Black Star Music & Video
Rap Grid
02 “Black Star Music and Film” Harlem, with one of the store’s owners
Popparotz TV
Shannon Holmes
JUICE2RADIO
05 A$AP Rocky Long.Live.A$AP listening party
RoyalRasProductions
06 OB4CL2 at Black Star Music & Video
JasonRosarioTV
4FrontMagazine
08 Bow Wow in Harlem at Black Star Music
Uncut RawTV
M.I.L.K. DVD
Ron Browz
11 Styles P book signing, “Invincible”
Che Pierre Studios
12 Author Tenia Jamilla visits Black Star
Tenia Jamilla
CorporateHustle
LiveWirePublishing
John Campbell
16 Lionz Den HBO taping at Black Star
trzzonline
17 Hell Up In Harlem: Raine vs. Persia, Krissy Yamagucci vs. Tori Doe
Battle Rap Media
18 Famoso + Shabaam Sahdeeq at Black Star
loopyvids
loopyvids
20 Shabaam Sahdeeq + Ms. Hustle
loopyvids
loopyvids
loopyvids
loopyvids
24 Mr. Hawkins @ Black Star Music
dangerousmuzicTV
Black Star tapes:
Street DVD catalog:
The history:
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