Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Greene is a Brooklyn-born American rapper associated with conscious hip hop, East Coast hip hop and underground hip hop. He is known for combining politically and socially aware writing with a long recording career across solo work and collaborations.

Early recognition and background

Kweli is born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1975. His name is Arabic and means “the seeker” or “student of truth and knowledge”. He grows up around academic influences: both of his parents are college professors, with his mother working as an English professor and his father as a sociology professor. As a young rapper, he is drawn to Afrocentric artists including De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse.

In 1995 he begins recording with producer Hi-Tek and rapper Mos Def, whom he meets in Central Park and later attends New York University with. This period leads into several of his most important early collaborations.

Black Star and Reflection Eternal

Kweli first gains wider recognition through Black Star, his duo with Mos Def. The pair release Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star in 1998, bringing him a measure of mainstream attention. He and Mos Def also contribute prominently to Rawkus Records’ compilation Soundbombing in 1997.

Alongside DJ Hi-Tek, he records as Reflection Eternal. Their album Train of Thought appears in 2000 and sells better than most alternative hip hop albums of the period. The duo is also connected to earlier work on Soundbombing.

Solo career

Kweli’s solo debut, Quality, is released in 2002. He follows it with The Beautiful Struggle in 2004, the mixtape album Right About Now in 2005, Eardrum in 2007, Gutter Rainbows in 2011 and Prisoner of Conscious in 2013. Eardrum is also known as Ear Drum.

He works with Kanye West on the track “Get ’Em High” from The College Dropout, and West also produces some of Kweli’s songs, including “Get By”, which becomes his biggest commercial hit.

Other collaborations and projects

Kweli releases an album with Madlib in 2007, and he also records two albums with Res under the name Idle Warship. Other group affiliations listed for him include Gotham, Whiskey Boys Band, Liberation and The Soulquarians.

He also provides the voice of Trane, the main character in the 2006 video game Marc Ecko’s Getting Up.

Label work and wider profile

Kweli creates his own label, Blacksmith Records, and later signs Jean Grae to it. He also leaves Geffen Records and signs with Warner Music Group. His label affiliations include Javotti Media and Pen Skills Music, alongside Blacksmith.

His profile broadens in part through appearances on Chappelle’s Show, both alone and with Mos Def, and he also appears in a commercial for the NCAA’s Big Ten Conference, rapping about its basketball teams.