Talib Kweli
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Talib Kweli (born Talib Kweli Greene, October 3, 1975) is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most prominent rappers in underground hip-hop, and is frequently critically acclaimed, despite not having significant commercial success. His name is Arabic, meaning "the seeker" or "student of truth and knowledge". His parents were both college professors: his mother an English professor, his father a sociology professor. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse and soon began recording with producer Hi Tek and rapper Mos Def whom he had known since the two attended high school together.
With Mos Def (together the pair were known as Black Star), Kweli achieved some mainstream success with the eponymously titled album Black Star. (1998) While Mos Def went on to a successful solo career, Kweli released the Hi Tek-produced Reflection Eternal in 2000. He has since released a critically acclaimed solo debut, Quality, in 2002, which received some mainstream attention thanks to the Kanye West-produced single "Get By." In 2004, Kweli released his second solo album, The Beautiful Struggle, which features production more akin to commercial rap, while Kweli's lyrics retain their powerful social-political content. Kweli has created his own record label, Blacksmith Records and has recently signed acclaimed female rapper Jean Grae, with rumors continuing to grow that underground veteran MF DOOM is the next artist to be picked up (Kweli also appeared on the MF DOOM/Danger Mouse collaboration The Mouse and the Mask, on the song "Old School"). He left Geffen Records and has signed with the powerful Warner Music Group.
He has since broken through slightly more towards the mainstream, thanks in large part to several appearances on the comedy show Chappelle's Show, both solo and with long-time collaborator Mos Def; this is due to a friendship between the host and creator of the show, comedian Dave Chappelle and the rapper. He also had a guest spot on friend Kanye West's widely successful debut album The College Dropout on the track "Get 'Em High". West has also produced some of Kweli's songs, including his biggest commercial hit "Get By". He also can be seen in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams.
In 2004 Talib toured with hip-hop legends the Beastie Boys on their "Pageant" tour and said in an interview "My fondest memories were watching the Beastie Boys get prepped to come on stage. They had a lot of antics and they play a lot of basketball… then they were giving out cameras to the crowd, and performing from the bleachers… The most important thing I learnt was that you control your crowd, not the other way around. They would chastise the crowd for being too rowdy if it looked like people were gonna get hurt. That was cool."
Trivia
- In 2006 Kweli appeared in the videogame as the voice of lead character Trane.
- He featured in the Black Eyed Peas song "Like That".
Discography
Studio albums
- Black Star (as Black Star with Mos Def) (1998, Rawkus Records)
- Reflection Eternal (with Hi-Tek) (2000, Rawkus Records)
- Quality (2002, Rawkus Records)
- The Beautiful Struggle (2004, Geffen Records)
- (2005, Koch Records)
- Eardrum (2006)
Mixtapes
- Top Kwelity Classics Vol. 1 (2002)
- The Beautiful Mix CD (2004)
- The Beautiful Mixtape Vol. 2 (2005)
- (2005, Blacksmith Records)
Bootlegs
Movies
External links
- [TalibKweli.com] - Official site (requires Flash)
- [Official blog]
- [Talib Kweli] - Unofficial site
- [Talib Kweli signs Jean Grae to Blacksmith Records]
- [Talib Kweli Lyrics]
- ["Beautifull Struggle" Review]
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