Talib Kweli Career
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Kweli made his professional debut in 1997, with an appearance on "DOOM," an album by Cincinnati, Ohio group, MOOD. In Cincinnati, Kweli also met DJ Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few well received underground recordings as Reflection Eternal. Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce their first and only album, 1998's Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip hop, was immediately hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. When Kweli and Mos Def parted ways shortly thereafter, Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album Train of Thought. The album, released, as Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star had been, on Rawkus Records, was likewise met with critical acclaim, but modest sales.
Following Train of Thought, Kweli and Hi-Tek split as well, and Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. 2002's Quality, accomplished this goal to some extent, featuring production by a host of different producers, including Just Blaze, DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album continued his critical success and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By."
In 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, The Beautiful Struggle. The album featured much more commercial production, and although Kweli's lyrics retained their socio-political content, he affected a somewhat harder persona. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash. Still, Kweli's stature continued to grow, particularly fueled by a line from Jay-Z's 2003 record, The Black Album: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli."
Kweli made his professional debut in 1997, with an appearance on "DOOM," an album by Cincinnati, Ohio group, MOOD (Main Flow, Donte, Jahson). In Cincinnati, Kweli also met DJ Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few well received underground recordings as Reflection Eternal. Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce their first and only album, 1998's Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip hop, was immediately hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. When Kweli and Mos Def parted ways shortly thereafter, Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album Train of Thought. The album, released, as Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star had been, on Rawkus Records, was likewise met with critical acclaim, but modest sales.
Following Train of Thought, Kweli and Hi-Tek split as well, and Kweli used his first truly solo debut to attempt a move toward a more mainstream sound. 2002's Quality, accomplished this goal to some extent, featuring production by a host of different producers, including Just Blaze, DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album continued his critical success and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By."
In 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, The Beautiful Struggle. The album featured much more commercial production, and although Kweli's lyrics retained their socio-political content, he affected a somewhat harder persona. The album failed to cross over into the mainstream and suffered a critical backlash. Still, Kweli's stature continued to grow, particularly fueled by a line from Jay-Z's 2003 record, The Black Album: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli."
On December 31, 2006, Kweli decided to release nine songs he recorded with acclaimed underground producer Madlib for free download on the internet. The album was entitled Liberation, of which Talib later was quoted by XXL magazine as stating releasing the album was liberating to him; "The idea 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."
For his newest release Kweli formed his own record label, Blacksmith Records and has recently signed acclaimed rapper Jean Grae and the group Strong Arm Steady. He also signed a new distribution deal with with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. His latest solo album is called Eardrum and was released on Aug 21, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The first single was Listen!!!.
On December 31, 2006, Kweli decided to release nine songs he recorded with acclaimed underground producer Madlib for free download on the internet. The album was entitled Liberation, of which Talib later was quoted by XXL magazine as stating releasing the album was liberating to him; "The idea 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."
For his newest release Kweli formed his own record label, Blacksmith Records and has recently signed acclaimed rapper Jean Grae and the group Strong Arm Steady. He also signed a new distribution deal with with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. His latest solo album is called Eardrum and was released on Aug 21, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The first single was Listen!!!.
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