TALIB KWELI

Talib Kweli, as the saying goes, is a rapper’s rapper. Always an agile and energetic MC, he’ll ride over any beat deemed quality with rapidly delivered, syllable heavy verses crammed with imagery-rich similes and thought provoking couplets. As the son of an English professor and an administrator at Long Island’s Adelphi University, he’s always attacked hip-hop from an intellectual angle, and when coming up as a respected underground artist in New York during the mid 90s, he earned his stripes at open mic poetry nights as well as freestyle ciphers in Washington Square park.

“If skills sold, truth be told/I’d probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli” goes Jay-Z’s famous shout out on Moment of Clarity, from his chart dominating record The Black Album. In response to Hova’s respectful gesture, Talib rapped: “If lyrics sold, then truth be told/ I’d probably be, just as rich and famous as Jay-Z”, in partial agreement with the idea that profits rarely mirror the expertise of the hip-hop artist.But although Talib Kweli has never compromised his lyrical craft, he’s tasted commercial success many times. Following the hype of his collaborative Black Star album with Mos Def, Kweli emerged from the underground in 2000 with his debut solo album Quality, which mounted the charts with help of the anthem Get By, produced by a promising young talent going by the name of Kanye West.

As an artist who often embeds his rhymes with positive social and political messages, Talib Kweli has always deviated (or, some would argue, outclassed) the womanising, ultra hedonistic and aggressively capitalist rap star persona that’s remained highly marketable for decades. Yet he’s not a fan of rigid and limiting categories, especially the now pejorative ‘conscious rapper’ tag, hence the name of his new album – Prisoner of Conscious. “It’s not so much focused on the ills of the world per se, it’s more focused on what I might be going through personally, and hopefully other people can relate to that”, he tells us, in relation to the lyrical direction of the record. “And there are definitely songs with me just announcing myself as a hip-hop artist, with a very aggressive and competitive approach”.

While the Black Star record remains a firm favourite in the music collections of retro- leaning, ‘real hip-hop’ heads – the types who’d dismiss the likes of Drake, Lil Wayne and Future as wafer thin, glossy ringtone rap – Talib Kweli is by no means a traditionalist. Along with veterans such as RZA and Busta Rhymes, Prisoner of Conscious’s credits list includes a brigade of high-profile new artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Curren$y, Harry Fraud and Miguel. “I think Miguel’s career testifies that there are different types of hip-hop he likes and he’s glad to work with, and I also think that my career clearly states that attitude”, he says. “I’ve worked with Will.I.Am, Justin Timberlake and Norah Jones, know what I’m saying? I’ll work with a diverse bunch of artists, and I’m always going to be thinking outside the box.”

It’s a statement which illustrates Talib Kweli’s attitude. He’s not willing to compromise the substance of his rhymes, but he wants his voice to be projected from the highest platform possible.

So when Kweli first heard Kendrick Lamar smuggle commentary about the perils of alcohol abuse in the radio-friendly banger Swimming Pools (Drank), it’s easy to picture him nodding in admiration. “I think Kendrick and his Black Hippy crew were smart with the way in which they positioned themselves, they made it so that the people got to hear the music”, he says, “Because there’s always quality artists out there, but those artists haven’t always figured out how to get the music heard”.

But whether Talib Kweli is spitting pearls of wisdom or simply exercising his abilities as a rapper and entertainer, he remains a truly politicised presence. Shortly before our interview, his Twitter feed brings our attention to a headline regarding Assata Shakur, the step-aunt of Tupac. In 1977 Shakur – a former member of the militant Black Liberation Army group – was convicted of allegedly murdering police officer Werner Foerster during a shootout which occurred in 1973. After breaking out of jail, Shakur escaped to Cuba, where she’s apparently been known to publicly express her anti-American views. On the recent 40th anniversary of Foerster’s death, the FBI added her to their ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ list, making her the first woman to be included. Kweli has always argued that Shakur was wrongly convicted, so how does he feel about her being branded a ‘terrorist’?

“I think it’s a distraction. It’s clearly propaganda, it’s fear tactics, like the way they’ve used the Boston Bombings to spread fear. Even if you feel that Assata Shakur was guilty of the crimes she was charged with – which I don’t – to say that this 65-year-old woman who’s been in Cuba for the last 30 years is a primary terrorist threat? So you have to put a billboard up on the freeway saying ‘If you see this person’?! C’mon, ya’ll know where she’s at, you’re not going to see her in New Jersey, know what I’m saying?. And that’s just dealing with the propaganda, that’s not even dealing with the flaws of the case against Assata.”

So Talib Kweli may be wrestling out of the ‘conscious rapper’ category, and he’s wise to do so, but will he keep utilising his amplified voice to promote positivity? “I can’t speak for every artist…” he declares, in a cautious move to not sound too righteous, “But personally, I feel that I must continue to do that”.

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Words: David Reed

Red Bull Music Academy’s ‘Fireside Chat’ interview/mix with Talib Kweli can be streamed here.

Prisoner of Conscious is available now via EMI.

talibkweli.com