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Hip Hop Head oF the week: Talib Kweli
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| Vivid Boy |
If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time. As it was, however, the especially earnest MC became one of the most
critically successful rappers of his time, which dawned in the late '90s when he rapped alongside Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tek as part of the group Black Star. This trio of up-and-comers and their widely acclaimed self-titled 1998 album debut helped make Rawkus Records one of the premier hip-hop outposts of the late '90s. In the process, they ushered in a short-lived "hip-hop" revival that took the music back to its roots, and thus away from the increasingly extreme and widespread gangsta motifs of the time.
Black Star and their label, Rawkus, provided a clear alternative not only to gangsta rap but also to the watered-down and overly calculated pop-rap of Puff Daddy and his ilk. In 2000, Kweli and Hi-Tek then followed up this wide-ranging critical notice with a second acclaimed release for Rawkus: their Reflection Eternal album, which firmly established them apart from Mos Def, who enjoyed plenty of his own acclaim. For a moment there, Kweli and his Rawkus peers seemed like a full-fledged movement -- a return to the sort of hip-hop associated with the so-called golden age.
However, it wasn't to be. Rawkus somehow lost its momentum, and its roster sadly dispersed, leaving Kweli on his own to carry the torch. He steadily continued his output, beginning with Quality in 2002, and though he didn't rack up towering sales numbers, he remained a critical favorite. In fact, he just may have been the most admired and respected rapper on the major-label circuit during the mid-2000s, best evidenced by Jay-Z's famous Black Album rhyme: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli."
Born in Brooklyn as the eldest of two sons born to college professors, Kweli's first name, Talib, is an Arabic name meaning "the seeker or student," while his last name is a Ghanaian name meaning "of truth or knowledge." He began developing his literary gift in elementary school, when he'd write short stories, poems, and that sort of stuff. It wasn't until years later in high school that he turned to hip-hop as an outlet for his self-expression. There in high school he met a young Dante Smith, better known today as Mos Def. This fateful meeting further drew Kweli toward hip-hop, and another fateful meeting further convinced him that he had a bright future as an MC. During a 1994 trip to Cincinnati he met Tony Cottrell, aka DJ Hi-Tek, who at the time was part of a local rap group called Mood. Kweli impressed Hi-Tek during their time together, and the DJ invited the MC to guest on several tracks for Mood's 1997 album, Doom. Shortly afterward, Kweli and Hi-Tek formed a partnership as Reflection Eternal and recorded "Fortified Live," which a then-fledging Rawkus label released on its first Soundbombing compilation.
A year later in 1998, the two invited Mos Def into the mix, and the Black Star album resulted. And with it came a steady downpour of critical acclaim that turned these guys into press darlings overnight. They might not have sold millions of albums, but Kweli, Hi-Tek, and Mos Def most certainly impressed a great many people, among them critics, fellow rap artists, and a lot of folks who enjoyed a good old-fashioned hip-hop album with an emphasis on beats, rhymes, and life -- not dramatized gunplay or interpolations of proven pop songs. That was the end of Black Star, however. In 1999 Mos Def released his one solo album, Black on Both Sides, and turned away from music and toward an acting career, leaving Kweli and Hi-Tek on their own. The duo returned to their Reflection Eternal partnership and released an album of the same name in 2000. It spawned a few minor hits -- "Move Somethin'" and "The Blast" -- but never really amounted to much more than yet more critical acclaim.
When Kweli returned with his Quality album in 2002, things had changed a bit. For one, he was truly solo. Mos Def was long gone, and Hi-Tek was off focusing on his own solo career as a for-hire producer. So Quality featured Kweli collaborating with a host of different artists, among them a young and promising yet still largely unknown producer named Kanye West. "Get By" was the fruit of Kweli's collaboration with West, and it became the rapper's biggest hit to date, aided quite a bit by a non-album remix featuring Jay-Z of all people. The remix got a lot of radio play, but still, Quality didn't put up Jay-Z numbers and Kweli remained a critical favorite, a reputation cemented all the more in late 2003 when Jigga gave him the aforementioned high-profile shoutout in "Moment of Clarity."
All of this set the stage very well for The Beautiful Struggle, which dropped in fall 2004. The expectations for the album were gargantuan because of the Jay-Z rhyme, and also because a great many hip-hop disciples felt Kweli was long overdue for a commercial breakthrough. The album was undoubtedly his most commercial effort to date, featuring a few token radio-ready hook singers like Mary J. Blige and Anthony Hamilton, not to mention a roster of hitmaking producers like the Neptunes, Just Blaze, and Kanye. It was also Kweli's most self-conscious to date, however, as it was well apparent that the commercial pressures had begun to affect his mindset, for better or worse. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
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| Goashem |
| talib is definately "quality music" but i bet he would have been a more commercial rapper if he had better camera presence. |
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| SonjaDanceDance |
| Talib Kweli is awesome but I 've always been a fan of Mos Def something about his flow, so awesome. If you seen the episode on the Dave Chapelle show ,where he freestyles in the car with Dave you can understand how amazing he is. |
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| Vivid Boy |
| quote: | Originally posted by SonjaDanceDance
Talib Kweli is awesome but I 've always been a fan of Mos Def something about his flow, so awesome. If you seen the episode on the Dave Chapelle show ,where he freestyles in the car with Dave you can understand how amazing he is. |
thats actually a song off his last album
btw sonja whats ur first name? sonja? |
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| joinT |
| quote: | Originally posted by SonjaDanceDance
Talib Kweli is awesome but I 've always been a fan of Mos Def something about his flow, so awesome. If you seen the episode on the Dave Chapelle show ,where he freestyles in the car with Dave you can understand how amazing he is. |
+1 black on both sides is definitely one of my favourite hip hop albums.
and Mos has the stage presence.. Caught him at the Ex several years ago, it was too bad they had chairs setup everywhere because if it had been open space it would've been amazing.. he's not a bad actor either IMO. |
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| yankeeBaby |
| Not a huge fan of hip hop anymore, but Talib and "Get By" are two favorites of mine...good choice, vivid!! ;) |
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| Vivid Boy |
| well this is for all the sickest mc's out there that never get known because gangster and bubble gum rap sells right now. |
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| m2j |
| quote: | Originally posted by SonjaDanceDance
Talib Kweli is awesome but I 've always been a fan of Mos Def something about his flow, so awesome. If you seen the episode on the Dave Chapelle show ,where he freestyles in the car with Dave you can understand how amazing he is. |
yup, mos def is definitely another wicked artists.
there is another episode with Talib & Mos Def (aka Black Star) perform together... sick sick performance. one of the greatest moments of chapelle show imo.
Another wicked undergroundish artist is Brother Ali... some of his stuff is sick. |
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| m2j |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vivid Boy
well this is for all the sickest mc's out there that never get known because gangster and bubble gum rap sells right now. |
and thats why I don't listen to the radio anymore...
and big ups to you making this thread for the under appreciated mc's out there. |
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| Red |
| Talib,Mos Def, Common and K-OS are few MCs that really deserve respect. I'm not gonna comment on majority of hip-hop artists for the past 10 years. Most of them don't deserve any recognition, yet they are getting way too much of it. :whip: |
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| Jer. |
'Get By' is a track that got me through some really REALLY tough times way back when.. Kanye *nailed* the production end of it all, and Talib's lyrical wordplay is just ing flawless.
Huge respect here. |
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| m2j |
| quote: | Originally posted by Red
Talib,Mos Def, Common and K-OS are few MCs that really deserve respect. |
went to a K-OS concert back in the summer.
holy ... SICK event. I can honestly say it was a "musical experience".
Not only did K-OS throw down sick rhymes but also had an awesome band playing with him.
At one point this indian dude (i think from Brampton or something) comes out on these crazy conga-style drums and throws down one of the GREATEST drum solo's i've ever heard in my life!
And then there was the guy with the electric and acostic bass solos... pure skill on his end too.
and of course K-OS threw down the classics, new stuff, and some unreleased :D
great times. |
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