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Hip-hop icon Talib Kweli on his life and musical journey

Features

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He sits on the sofa set at the Sarakasi Dome, microphone in hand on this Thursday afternoon. In front of him are dozens of teens and music hopefuls in their early twenties, hip-hop enthusiasts shooting questions at him.

Calm and collected, he has all the aspects of his genre thoroughly studied and comes off wise yet more approachable than your average internationally renowned rapper. Nonchalant, his vocal intonation doesn’t change in excitement or surprise in between answering the questions with precise and fulfilling responses accompanied by real life examples drawn from his personal experiences.

He answers every question with a, “Yes Sir”, “What’s up my Brother” and the occasional “Peace my brother”.

This scenario is all too familiar to Talib Kweli. He is one of the most-toured American hip-hop artistes and he pretty much goes through the same thing from city to city. When we spoke, he had just arrived from South Africa the previous night, where he had held a series of shows. He was scheduled for a DJ skit at Ebony Lounge after the interview, before heading back to the United States the day after.

As a teen growing up in New York, Talib handed out flyers and tickets for shows for De la Soul and Tribe Quest. He describes how he used to hang out with the likes of P Diddy and Busta Rhymes, who though a couple of years older, were also trying to make their way in the music industry. His love and curiosity drove him to pursue music as a career.

“I said I was going to do this (music) and put all my focus in it for two years. If it didn’t work out in those two years I was going to get a day job or something. Luckily my career took off within those two years,” says Talib.

Talib comes from an education-oriented background. His dad is an administrator at a State university, his mother an English professor, while his younger brother is a Law professor. “My music is educational,” says Talib perhaps to defend his less-than-scholarly C.V.

Talib has been known to practice social awareness in and out of his songs. He first lashed out at police brutality in the US in his collaboration EP with Mos Def in the 2000 project, Hip Hop for Respect.

Recently, he was on the ground in Ferguson, Missouri to protest killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown where he lashed out at a CNN reporter during a live interview.

Jay Z admires him and views his lyrical prowess as ideal if this were a perfect world where lyrics were respected and actually sold records.

Despite this huge endorsement and being considered as a leading socially conscious rapper, Talib has not always had it easy.

“I haven’t had it all. From being told I rap too fast - people can’t get what I am saying - to people telling me that Mos Def was a better rapper than I am and that I am famous (only) because of him,” recalls Talib.

Mos Def now known as Yasiin Bey, has done a number of projects with Talib Kweli and they are said to have a natural chemistry on the microphone apart from having the same idealist, social awareness activism views.

Talib’s strong views have caused him to collide with a number of high profile individuals. Talib was among the first few public figures to call out Rick Ross on his controversial rape lyrics that led to Rick Ross losing his Reebok endorsement deal.

“You can’t believe all that goes in the rap videos. Even the most hard-core of hip-hop fans love the hyped, club beat songs with the lazy lyrics. But we have to take it as simply entertainment. They are just trying to portray a certain lifestyle which is not there,” says Talib.

He has an interesting answer when asked about Nicki Minaj.

“I try to look for the positives in people; she outdid Jay Z and Kanye on the Monster single, which is commendable for a female rapper if not all rappers. Even with that entire fake a**, she has done some good with the pop image she is trying to push and build something for herself. But as a rapper, she is yet to give us her best,” says Talib.Finishing off the interview, Talib advises the room full of young artistes not to rush into the music industry, risk it all and expect returns in the foreseeable future.

“When you are starting out, keep your day job till you can fully support yourself and your family through your art. The desire to support your family fully through your art will make you do things out of desperation that will impact your creativity just to make some quick money,” concludes Talib.

 

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