Talib Kweli

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Talib Kweli (born Talib Kweli Greene in Brooklyn, NY on October 3, 1975) is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most known rappers in underground hip-hop, and is frequently critically acclaimed, despite not having significant commercial success. His name in Arabic, means "seeker/student of truth"[1]. 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.

[edit] History

Talib Kweli started his rap career in a rap group called Mood with DJ Hi-Tek as the group's producer and some unknown rappers back in Cincinnati. They had problems dealing with record labels and they never got a major distribution and promotion for their only effort - an album called Doom.

[edit] Rise to popularity

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 and DJ Hi-Tek (known as Reflection Eternal) released the album Train of Thought 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.

Problems playing the files? See media help. </li> </ul> </div> </div> He has since broken through slightly more towards the mainstream, thanks in large part to an appearance on MTV's Wild'n Out, as well as several appearances on the comedy show Chappelle's Show 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 produced some of Kweli's songs, including his biggest commercial hit "Get By". Kweli can be seen in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams. He also provided the voice of the protagonist in the graffiti-themed video game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, released in 2006.

[edit] Current state

Kweli has two children: an older son, Amani Fele, and a younger daughter, Diyani Eshe.

Kweli has also supported the Black August Benefit Concert since its inception, and performs at the show consistently every year.

According to Blacksmith's Web site, Talib Kweli's latest solo album will not be released until January 2007. In the meantime, he has created a global gathering place for all his fans on Second Life which will feature live concert streams as will as exclusives from his new album.

The song "Funny Money" (was available on Kweli's myspace) produced by Madlib is reportedly from a collaborative album by the two artists titled Liberation. Kweli has said it will be released in November 2006 and may even be free of charge—unclear as to how this would be executed. He also recently released Blacksmith: The Movement mixtape. Currently, it is only available at shows but should see wider release in the coming weeks [2].

[edit] Discography

[edit] Black Star (Talib Kweli & Mos Def)

Album cover	Album information
	Black Star Released: August 26, 1998 Billboard 200 chart position: #53 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #13 Singles: "Definition"/"Twice Inna Lifetime", "Respiration"

[edit] Reflection Eternal (with Hi-Tek)

Train of Thought Released: October 17, 2000 Billboard 200 chart position: #17 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5 Singles: "Move Somethin'"/"Good Mourning" & "The Blast"/"Down For The Count"/"Train Of Thought"

[edit] Solo albums

	Quality Released: November 19, 2002 Billboard 200 chart position: #21 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #6 Singles: "Waitin' for the DJ"/"Guerilla Monsoon Rap", "Good To You"/"Put It In The Air", "Get By"
Image:Beautiful Struggle. Kweli.jpg	The Beautiful Struggle Released: September 28, 2004 Billboard 200 chart position: #14 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #3 Singles: "I Try", "Never Been In Love"/"A Game"/"Black Girl Pain"
Image:Rightaboutnowkweli.jpg	Right About Now Released: November 22, 2005 Singles: "Flash Gordon", "Fly That Knot"
Image:Eardrum.jpg	Ear Drum Released: January 2007 Billboard 200 chart position: R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: Singles: "Listen!!!", "More Or Less"

[edit] Singles

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	Album
1998	"Definition" (Black Star)	#60	#31	#3	Black Star
1999	"Respiration" (Black Star feat. Common)		#54	#6	Black Star
2000	"Move Somethin'" (Reflection Eternal)		#32	#1	Train of Thought
2001	"The Blast" (Reflection Eternal feat. Vinia Mojica)		#48	#2	Train of Thought
2002	"Good to You"		#95		Quality
2002	"Waitin' for the DJ" (feat. Bilal)		#77		Quality
2003	"Get By"	#77	#29	#16	Quality
2004	"I Try" (feat. Mary J. Blige)		#77		The Beautiful Struggle
2005	"Never Been in Love"				The Beautiful Struggle
2006	"Listen!!!"				Ear Drum

[edit] Mixtapes

• Top Kwelity Classics Vol. 1 (2002)
• The Beautiful Mix CD (2004)
• The Beautiful Mixtape Vol. 2 (2005)
• Confidential Mixtape (2005)
• The Guerilla Pimp Mixtape (2006, Blacksmith Records)
• Brooklyn, Tennessee (2006)
• Blacksmith: The Movement (November 2006 [3])

[edit] Bootlegs

• The Beautiful Struggle - Original Bootleg (2004, Internet)

[edit] Movies

• Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006)

[edit] See also

• Songs by Talib Kweli

[edit] External links

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Talib Kweli

• TalibKweli.com - Official site (requires Flash)
• Official blog
• Talib Kweli - Unofficial site
• Talib Kweli signs Jean Grae to Blacksmith Music
• Talib Kweli Lyrics
• "Beautifull Struggle" Review
• Talib Kweli's Myspace

v • d • e</span>  Talib Kweli

Albums and EPs: Black Star | Train of Thought | Quality | The Beautiful Struggle | Right About Now | Eardrum

Singles: "Move Somethin'" | "The Express" | "The Blast" | "Fortified Live" | "Good To You" | "Waitin' For The DJ" | "The Sun God" | "Get By" | "Peace Of Mine" | "I Try" | "Never Been In Love" | "Flash Gordon" | "Fly That Knot" | "Listen" | "More Or Less"

Other: Reflection Eternal | Native Tongues | Blacksmith Records | Black Star

Soulquarians
Groups
Black Star | Slum Village | The Roots
Members
?uestlove | Bilal | Common | D'Angelo | Erykah Badu | J Dilla | James Poyser | Mos Def | Q-Tip | Talib Kweli
Albums
Amplified | Be | Baduizm | Black on Both Sides | Black Star | Brown Sugar | Can I Borrow a Dollar? | Champion Sound | Donuts | Eardrum | Electric Circus | Fantastic, Vol. 1 | Fantastic, Vol. 2 | Finding Forever | Funky Cousins (Demo) | Game Theory | Heartache | James River | Jay Love Japan | Kamaal the Abstract | Like Water for Chocolate | Live | Live at the Jazz Cafe | Mama's Gun | One Day It'll All Make Sense | Open | Quality | Relive The Moment | Resurrection | Ruff Draft | The Beautiful Struggle | The New Danger | The Shining | The Shining Instrumentals | Train of Thought | Tru3 Magic | Voodoo | Welcome 2 Detroit | Worldwide Underground

da:Talib Kweli de:Talib Kweli es:Talib Kweli fr:Talib Kweli it:Talib Kweli nl:Talib Kweli pl:Talib Kweli sv:Talib Kweli

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Categories: 1975 births | African American musicians | American rappers | Living people | New York musicians | People from Brooklyn