In 2008, three police officers were acquitted of the murder of Sean Bell – who they had shot dead two years prior outside a strip club in Queens, New York, as he left his bachelor party the night before he was to be married. Despite firing over 50 bullets at Bell, who was unarmed, and wounding two of his friends, the officers were deemed not guilty in his shooting death. Following the verdict, rapper The Game responded with the song 911 Is A Joke (Cop Killa) – dedicating it along with his track My Life to Bell.
In a statement ahead of the track’s release, The Game said that he was “outraged and speaking out for my generation that are afraid to speak out against police brutality and murder… I grew in Compton and had to stay silent because of the fear that was prevalent in my community, but now that I have a voice I’m speaking out.” What he found, however, was that it became difficult to find artists who were willing to speak up with him. In recently resurfaced interview footage following the release of the song, the rapper is seen crying as he describes the disheartening experience of being unable to convince people to collaborate with him on the track for fear of speaking out: “I reached out to a lot of rappers and a lot of them… I just got … excuses. Nobody wanted to stand up… We don’t have a problem putting out a mixtape and dissing each other, but when it comes to the problems that affect us like police brutality, excessive force… Nobody wants to stand up for that.” As the interview progresses, he says that he doesn’t want to be a part of the hip-hop community anymore because no one wanted to be vocal anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWYyzCpHUDs&feature=youtu.be&t=1m55s
In the time since the interview, a number of artists have spoken out, be it through statements or music, on the issues facing black people in the United States, as well as throwing their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement. From TINK, Immortal Technique, Killer Mike, Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole and more, the list is ever expanding, unfortunately prompted by the ever-expanding list of victims. Rappers and industry heavyweights are throwing their voices behind the movement, even calling out each other when it comes to ignorant and misguided comments or lack of involvement.
Recently, following the release of his video for 16 Shots, which details the graphic, violent shooting death of Laquan McDonald in 2014, Vic Mensa commented on Lil Wayne distancing himself from the movement when asked to comment by a Reddit user. “I think it’s a very ignorant, selfish and isolated position to take… even someone as big as Wane is just a black man minus all of his ice and fame, and can be treated the same way.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPWXOAYlgOc
Image: Billoard
Talib Kweli, 9th Wonder and Rapsody’s Life Ahead Of Me has been given the visual treatment, with the artists featured in front of a white background, surrounded by eye-catching graphics which tell the story behind the song.
As Rapsody’s raspy voice starts off the song, the tagline “I got my whole life ahead of me” grips onto us from the beginning. The graphics appear as she moves her hand, looking as if it were magic. Halfway through, we follow the images of moving cars to Kweli’s verse, and as the song continues, the designs within the graphics grow in detail. From basketballs to wads or cash and even a petrol station drawn in colour, the animation of Cam Be and Claudia Randel make for a really interesting little video.
The song was originally featured in Kweli’s 2015 album Indie 500, which was performed on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon earlier this year. Rapsody credited the performance as a highlight of her year in an interview with DJBooth; “Oh yeah. I did Jimmy Fallon with Talib. Who forgets that shit?! I do! That’s crazy. That’s primetime TV, millions of viewers. Nobody just gets on Jimmy Fallon… And backed by The Roots. Man, my year was awesome!” she said.
Watch the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuEuc13TUag
Image: YouTube
Joining the guys over at the Drink Champs podcast, Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli reminisced about the first time he met a young Kanye West, and the drive and vision that the producer had well before any record deal. Meeting him in the recording sessions for his 2002 album Quality, Kanye went to the studio to actually meet Mos Def and play him some beats. Instead, Talib jumped on the opportunity and the rest is history.
“I said play me the beats, I’m working on an album. Every beat that Kanye played me… made it onto my album (referring to Get By, Guerilla Monsoon Rap and Good To You). I couldn’t believe how good these beats was because I had never heard of him. How have I have never heard of you and these beats and this quality?”
Kweli continued to reveal that before any kind of record deals, Kanye already had his first two albums planned out. In the first month they met, Talib was played a completed Jesus Walks as well as Hey Mam and was even told that he was going to call his debut album College Dropout, with Late Registration to follow.
Agreeing that Kanye was truly a genius, he explained, “Kanye had the hot beats but he was trying to sell himself as an artist.” He knew where he was going, he had a vision and was completely motivated to fulfil his dream, and that is completely amazing. Obviously we all know Kanye is now one of the most influential artists of this decade, so it’s amazing to see how humbling his roots really are, watch the full interview below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tTAGmIh-xM
Image: Hot New Hip Hop
In a year where many musicians are sadly passing away all too young, it’s understandable that many are feeling the nostalgia and doubting that the musicians of today will be able to hold candles to the giants they stand on. Earlier this week however, Talib Kweli came out against a Twitter user who was doing exactly that, who claimed that A Tribe Called Quest and Rakim can’t be compared to the sounds of today.
https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/732672904933068800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Over a number of tweets, Talib named Run The Jewels, Joey Bada$$, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Rapsody, Anderson .Paak and Chance The Rapper as artists “all great, on [their] way to legend.” All of these artists are absolutely killing it at the moment – constantly releasing well-received music and each with their own distinct sound – but kind words from the one and only Talib Kweli can’t do anything but help their reputation and their self-confidence. In the same post Kweli also addressed the ease of finding good and original music in the age we live in.
“You are pretending that finding good music is harder than it used to be. That is false. It’s way easier… People forget the primary subject of real hiphop from 20-30 years ago was the ubiquitous ‘wacl MC’. Cuz there was a lot of wack shit out.”
https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/732686737693085697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Indeed, when we interviewed Kweli last year he told us, ” [To Pimp A Butterfly] is an experimentation in hip-hop, it’s funk and jazz, and he’s talking about the black experience as a kid from Compton. Kendrick is the number one most popular rapper right now, with the exception of maybe Drake. So to me, that signals a really healthy market for real music… People know the names of the artists that play club music, but people have nothing invested in these artists. People have something invested in Kendrick, and Run The Jewels, and J Cole and A$AP Rocky.”
Some wise words from one of the biggest names in biz. It’s an exciting time for music that we live in, and living in the past is getting no one anywhere interesting. Let’s wait and see if Talib’s predictions are true, and these acts all become legends – we’re pretty confident they will.
Check out our review of Talib Kweli alongside Common in Melbourne here.
Image: oogeewoogee
If you’ve listened to a lot of Common’s music, you will know it is sometimes referred to as ‘conscious’ hip-hop, as Common is aware of the world around him; he is aware of his people, and he raps about his love for the people. You could take away the beats, change up the crowd and he could perform just as well as a poet. Indeed, he is a poet as well as a rapper, having recited some on Def Poetry Jam, and the man has always inspired more than just hip-hop lovers. This was made clear during his performance in Melbourne last night; taking a look at the crowd, you could not have guessed who was performing or even what genre the concert was for.
Last night, I caught Common, supported by the immensely talented Talib Kweli as well as DJ MzRizk featuring N’Fa Jones and Man Made Mountain at Melbourne’s Trak Lounge. Talk about a dope line-up. Common had promised special guests as well as Talib, and couldn’t have chosen finer Melbourne talent to get the vibe right.
Setting the mood for the night was MzRizk, who, as the person responsible for Rizk’s Block Parties and Hip-Hop High Teas, knew exactly how to get the party started. Joining her on stage was fellow House of Beige artist N’Fa of 1200 Techniques, who did the MC thing, asking how the crowd were feeling before launching into a lengthy freestyle, improvising from what people in the audience were wearing and doing. A proven lyricist time and time again, he performed as many freestyles as songs above MzRizk’s slick beats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF4SN0IU7Y8
After N’Fa, Man Made Mountain came out for a set. If you don’t know Man Made Mountain, they are a hip-hop duo comprised of ARIA Award-winning producer Billy Hoyle and MC Cazeaux O.S.L.O.. Man Made draw upon their spiritual connection with the sounds of Brazil to create incredibly uplifting and unique music. The Melbourne group brought a perfect chilled out vibe, the kind you might get from a J Dilla track, which segued perfectly to the music of Talib and Common.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c3icG56ei8
MzRizk and N’Fa came back out to spin and spit a bit of original music, before introducing a man who really needs no introduction – Talib Kweli.
Talib Kweli is an MC’s MC, and you will seldom find ‘good’ rappers who wouldn’t list him as having a major influence on their career. He is not your typical rapper: he’s not about ‘bitches’ and ‘hoes,’ or ‘cars’ and ‘clothes,’ which we discussed with him in depth in an interview last year. He spits from the heart and could teach a man a few things about being a man.
Talib was highly charged, jumping straight up on the speakers at the front of stage. The crowd went wild, they loved every second of him. He had us putting the ‘Ws’ in the air for The RZA-produced track Rocket Ships from Prisoner of Conscious, before taking us back to my favourite album of his, The Beautiful Struggle, and what is possibly my favourite song of his, Never Been In Love. Without slowing down the pace, he took a moment to remember Prince, and as his DJ spun I Wanna Be Your Lover, Talib danced around the stage and the crowd reciprocated the love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyqkw0z6Shs
That’s when Talib turned it up by shouting out to his man Mos Def and Blackstar. “1, 2, 3 Mos Def and Talib Kweli” – that’s right, he rapped Definition, and not only that, he even did K.O.S. The only thing that he hadn’t done on his near-perfect set was perform Get By – which, of course, he then smashed out as his last song. Talib can really handle the crowd, and he gave us everything we needed in the limited amount of time he had.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVtpXvzzXiA
And then the man of the night was up. As his five-piece band (drummer, DJ, keyboardist, producer, and vocals) slowly set up, I was expecting/praying that he would open with the intro to Be (I’ve documented by longstanding love for that album and that song in particular). He didn’t open up with that, but he did open up with The People, which was almost as good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7B2VgRShew
Scattered through his performance (and I don’t use ‘performance’ as a regular noun – he really performed) were little uplifting speeches that were perfect intros between tracks. He even slipped an anti-Trump speech in there towards the end. At one point he discussed his love for people – from the rich to the poor, to the people from the street and on The Corner, which led him nicely into that song. He then launched into The Food, also from the Be album.
Later, Common was building up to a song that apparently meant a lot to him, until he noticed a few too many punters taking photos. He proceeded to tell them off and then told the band to instead play Black America. It didn’t really stop people from taking pictures, as up next was Blackstar’s Respiration. Yeah, that’s right, Common and Talib were on stage together and it was every bit as dope as it sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTnog5RRQo
There was one weird moment once Talib left. Common chose a young lady from the crowd and invited her up on stage; her name was Eden, which I remember as he serenaded her in freestyle, making lots of references to his being ‘Adam’ in ‘Eden’s garden.’ He even had her wipe away the sweat from his face with a towel – it was a little gross, but she seemed to enjoy it. It was a bit much at times, and almost felt scripted, as is, well, common for a Common show, but that’s expected from an entertainer at his level. Once the moment passed, Common came down into the crowd to sing his song, Go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCe1gC5VaW4
After a dramatic rendition of Testify, Common spent some time talking about producers he has worked with throughout his career, especially J. Dilla, and he gave the crowd a little vignette of their meeting, and how Dilla gave Common free beats before they were even mates.
His set ended on the Pharrell-produced Universal Mind Control, which bangs pretty hard live and was a solid choice to end on. But, of course, that was not actually the end. The band came back out for the encore playing Be (Intro) for a minute before Common reappeared, rapped Be, and made my life. That’s what I came to see, and once it was done, I could drop my metaphorical mic and walk out of the building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJwAkpfcEj4
It was a truly remarkable night with great performances from everyone, and it was amazing to see two of my favourite MCs perform together. In the words of the legend that is Common, “I’ll tell you the rest when I see you, peace.”
Image: Ripitup
Common and Talib Kweli have just announced an Australian tour, hereby confirming 2016 to be, by far, the absolute greatest year in history for hip-hop artists visiting Australia.
The pair are among the absolute most lyrically gifted rappers in history, and the fact that they’re teaming up is beyond anything imaginable. While it’s technically not a co-headline tour, with Kweli (inexplicably) booked as Common’s support, it very obviously IS a co-headline tour to us, considering they are equally talented, equally brilliant and equally worthy of the top slot.
A four time Grammy, Golden Globe and Oscar winner, Common last visited Australia in 2014 for the now-defunct hip-hop/R&B festival Soulfest. In 2012 he featured on G.O.O.D Music’s first ever compilation album, Cruel Summer, alongside Kanye, Pusha T, Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Kid Cudi, before signing to Def Jam in 2014 and releasing his tenth album, Nobody’s Smiling, which featured Vince Staples, Jhene Aiko, Big Sean and more.
The prolific and endlessly outspoken Kweli, who released a slew of new, free releases last year, was booked to perform at last year’s Soulfest, but it was cancelled at the last minute. On top of the groundbreaking Mos Def collaborative album Black Star, arguably the greatest underground hip-hop record of all time, his many solo albums have time and time again proven him to be one of the most important, insightful, socially aware rappers in history.
The tour will see the pair visit Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney, before heading to New Zealand for Common’s first ever headline performance in Wellington.
Tickets go on sale on Thursday March 31.
Common & Talib Kweli 2016 Tour Dates
Friday, May 6: Trak Lounge, Melbourne
Saturday, May 7: Eatons Hill, Brisbane
Sunday, May 8: Thebarton, Adelaide
Monday, May 9: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday, May 11: TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVtpXvzzXiA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzqyeq7VOcg
Hip-hop is one of the most prominent genres in the contemporary music world. Its influence is unparalleled and since it’s inception in the 1970s, it has gone from strength to strength as an artistic medium. However, one prominent musician seems to think that hip hop’s influence is rather benign, in fact, that it would eventually go away.
Gene Simmons, otherwise known as the bass guitarist and co-lead singer of Kiss, made some pretty inflammatory comments in an interview with Rolling Stone, entitled “Gene Simmons Skewers Pop Charts, Is ‘Looking Forward to Death of Rap,” in which he, yes, explicitly states, “I am looking forward to the death of rap.”
“I’m looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking. A song, as far as I’m concerned, is by definition lyric and melody … or just melody,” he adds.
Continuing to assert his rather controversial stance on the matter, Simmons adds: ”Rap will die… Next year, 10 years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along. And all that is good and healthy.”
Simmons, ever the expert, revealed to countless disillusioned hip-hop heads out there that rap is “just talking.” He goes onto to say that he doesn’t have the cultural background to appreciate being a ‘gangster’ because rap comes from the streets.
“A song, as far as I’m concerned, is by definition lyric and melody … or just melody,” he says.
Oddly enough EDM seemed to gain a seal approval in Simmons eyes. “EDM is honest. EDM says, ‘Here’s a guy onstage who does fuck-all, he does nothing. He presses a button and puts his hands up in the air. He doesn’t pretend to be lip-syncing to a track.”
Naturally some took offence to these rather reductive comments, namely Talib Kweli. Striking back at Simmons over Twitter, Kweli had a pretty ruthless comeback for Simmons.
Would it be unfair of me to say I’m looking forward to the death @genesimmons or nah? Chuck Berry shits on Kiss. pic.twitter.com/ZNGkeAjaGT
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) March 18, 2016
Simmons had a curt retort prepared for Kweli on Twitter.
Apparently pointing out that everything is cyclical – even music – is “controversial”. People are very easily offended. — Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) March 18, 2016
Me: Rock is dead
people: outrage!
Me: Rap will probably die eventually.
People: outrage!
Me: the sky is blue.
People: sometimes it’s orange!— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) March 18, 2016
Kweli had good response prepared for Simmons Twitter diatribe, firing back:
Pointing out everything is “cyclical” is different than “looking forward” to things dying. Do better Gene. https://t.co/7OJHZLHPdf
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) March 18, 2016
He finished off by posting a picture with the lyrics of KRS-One’s song Hip Hop Lives
Some KRS One lyrics for @genesimmons
A photo posted by Talib Kweli (@talibkweli) on Mar 18, 2016 at 7:12am PDT
This isn’t the first time Simmons has expressed incredulity about the inclusion of rap into the annals of music greatness.
When asked in a 2014 interview with radio.com about his book Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the World, Simmons said that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was “a well meaning organization run by about ten guys,” and “these ten guys, some of them are good guys, some perhaps not, decided that there would be rappers and disco artists inducted.”
“A few people decide what’s in and what’s not. And the masses just scratch their heads,” he continues further on in the interview.
Hey Gene, what about hair metal? You know, that overly-theatrical genre you’re a part of which focuses more on leather pants and makeup than music and lyrics? Reckon that will outlast rap? Oh wait, it’s already dead.
Images: thesource.com
Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder have been vital members of hip hop’s indie scene, and are launching Indie 500 together almost a year to the date that they first announced they would be combining forces – an announcement which left hip hop heads in a frenzy of anticipation.
In September, Kweli announced that the album would feature Brother Ali, Hitech, Khrysis, Bad Lucc, Problem, Rapsody, Planet Asia, Nico, Pharoahe Monch, and Slug from Atmosphere. Fans are still patiently waiting these dope collabs. It’s not like Kweli hasn’t given fans two amazing albums this year, it’s just that the suspense and all star recruits are lined up for this one.
Well the day has finally arrived, and Indie 500 is available to stream now!
In the past couple of months, we have had two singles released from the album: Every Ghetto (featuring Rapsody and produced by Hi-Tek) was released last month, and Pay Ya Dues (featuring West Coast rappers Problem & Bad Lucc and produced by Eric G) was released in September.
The album has been given the full mellow Kweli vibe over all 13 tracks. Understand is the most lyrically pleasing track with Kweli, Brother Ali and Planet Asia delivering bar after bar of smooth raps over dreamy piano.
Indie 500 is available for pre-order and will officially be available on Friday November 6th, but until then, let your Thursday be enhanced by the stream.
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Though we won’t be able to see him due to the unfortunate cancellation of Soulfest due to lack of ticket sales – our day just got a little bit better with a video for Talib Kweli‘s track with Rapsody and 9th Wonder – Every Ghetto, and a new track with Styles P – The Mathematics.
He’s already released a free album Fuck The Money only a little over two months ago, and earlier this year dropped Radio Silence, and so this latest collab, Indie 500, with producer 9th Wonder is set to be his third album this year. That is absolute insanity – three albums in one year, what a machine. The video for Every Ghetto cuts between Rapsody and Kweli spitting bars outside a convenience store, to shots of the unnamed ghetto and the people that live in it. It’s cut in a really sick way, with every shot jumping on the beat so it always stays interesting.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRp34Uol7Y]
The Mathetmatics is Kweli’s latest collab with author/rapper Styles P, and is absolutely gorgeous. Both MCs flow perfectly over a super jazzy and saxy sounding beat, and it’s just so cruisey – perfect for a Friday. On top of all that he’s doing, the track is part of Colours of the Culture, a project Kweli announced last week – a collective of artists, filmmakers, producers, MCs and all sorts of creatives. It’s one of 18 tracks on their first release, Roy G Biv: What A Colourful World, which you can download here now.
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So many releases, so little time to listen to all of them. Please keep it up Talib, straight up killing it – check our recent interview with him here.
Wow, this is an incredibly cool, stompy new track from the one and only Talib Kweli, who has teamed with up with 9th Wonder for a full collaborative album. The track, also featuring the blisteringly talented Rapsody, was performed on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show earlier this week. We now have the studio version, and it’s just fantastic.
Also featuring production courtesy of Hi-Tek, the track is called Every Ghetto. Kweli angrily spits lines about a full range of topics, from ghetto violence to gentrification (“we live here, these hipsters drop in”), as well as notes to those who call him a conscious rapper – “They say consciousness mean we ain’t rugged, until you get beat within an inch of it.”
Rapsody is, as always, an absolute delight, delivering a killer guest verse that focuses on police brutality.
Titled Indie 500, will be Kweli’s FOURTH full project to come out this year, It follows on from Radio Silence, surprise free album Fuck The Money, and Train of Thought: Lost Lyrics, Rare Releases & Beautiful B-Sides Vol.1, a collection of tracks (featuring collabs with Kanye, Killer Mike, Mos Def and more).
Every Ghetto follows first single Pay Ya Dues, ft. Problem and Bad Lucc. Indie 500 is set to come out on November 6.
Talib Kweli will be performing at Soulfest this month – both a solo set, and as Black Star alongside Mos Def.