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Hip-Hop's Truth Seeker
Thursday 15th November 2012 | Osh
I don't know about you, but I feel as the times roll on, hip-hop loses it's message and truth. However there are a few hip-hop MCs out there who still respect the genre and who have done great things in this field.
Step forward Mr. Talib Kweli.
This former Five-Percenter -whose name means "Seeker of Truth"-, was a part of the Afrocentric movement of hip-hop in the mid 90s. His collaborations with fellow political rapper Mos Def, forced society to sit up and take notice of this socially and politically conscious font of musical talent.
But it was Kweli's 2002 mainstream release Quality - partly produced by Kanye West and DJ Quick - which gained him widespread kudos, with the album's Kanye-produced Get By bringing most of the attention.
In 2001, Talib Kweli teamed up with former partner Mos Def to contribute to another album. This compilation was entitled Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute record to Duke Ellington, created by the Red Hot Organization. The album raised both awareness and funds for AIDS and research into curing the disease. In 2002 the follow up critically acclaimed compilation Red Hot + Riot , also created by the Red Hot Organization, was released as a tribute to to music and work of Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti. For this album, he joined forces with fellow hip-hop/RnB heavyweights, Dead Prez, Jorge Ben, and Bilal to cover Kuti's infamous song "Shuffering and Shmiling".
Kweli is also a spokesperson for the free after-school music program P'Tones Records, whose mission is "to create constructive opportunities for urban youth through no-cost music programs".
On the 31st December 2006, after working with recognised producer Madlib Kweli, released nine songs available for free download. The album was named Liberation, and of the albums name, Kewil had this to say in an XXL magazine interview: "The ideas that I could put out an album like that: record it in my house, put it out for free and get that type of response [was liberating]."
Kweli's 2007 album Eardrum debuted at No.2 on the Billboard Charts and sold 129,000 in its first month of release. Along with this album, Kweli also dropped a collection of rare and collaborative songs, entitled Focus.
Talib Kweli's 2012 album release, Prisoner of Consciousness , features Kendrick Lamar, Curren$y, RZA, and Nelly amongst others. Of this album, Kweli says it shows his progression in his approach to writing: "Maybe experimenting might have been the wrong word for me to use, but just a different direction. Songs that are more focused on life and what people are going through, and dealing with the social conditions in that way as opposed to speaking directly to the social conditions. That’s what I’m really trying to do with this album."
I predict a lot more great things from the "Seeker of Truth".
Check out Talib Kweli's music video for a track off of his new album entitled Distractions.
By Kyla
