Talib Kweli Greene ( ; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He is one half of the hip-hop duo Black Star, which he formed in 1997 with fellow Brooklyn rapper Yasiin Bey. Their 1998 single, "Definition", entered the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded their eponymous debut album (1998), which entered the Billboard 200. The duo then began pursuing solo careers, although one further Black Star album — No Fear of Time (2022) — was released thereafter.
In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.
Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Kweli grew up in a household in Brooklyn's Park Slope. His mother, Brenda Greene, is an English professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, and his father is an administrator at Adelphi University. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of constitutional law at Columbia Law School and a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.
As a youth, Kweli was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse whom he had met in high school. Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was previously a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, and later studied experimental theater at New York University.
Music career Early career (1997–2001) Kweli made his debut in 1997, with five featured appearances on Doom, an album by Cincinnati, Ohio, group Mood. In Cincinnati, Kweli met Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few underground recordings as Reflection Eternal, including "Fortified Live" (1997), and "B-Boy Document 99/Chaos" (1999, featuring The High & Mighty).
Rawkus Records collaborative projects (1998–2000) Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce 1998's Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip-hop, was hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album Train of Thought. The album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios with the Soulquarians.
Hip Hop For Respect (2000) An EP, Hip Hop for Respect, was organized by Mos Def and Kweli to speak out against police brutality, specifically, the case of Amadou Diallo.[ AllMusic chart history] The project released one EP for Rawkus Entertainment. On February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by four police officers while reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Diallo was unarmed. The project aimed to assemble 41 emcees to represent the 41 shots fired. Rappers featured on the EP include Owen Brown, Evil Dee, Kool G. Rap, Rah Digga, Sporty Thievz, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Common, Pharoahe Monch, Posdnuos, Donte and Main Flow of Mood, Nine, Tiye Phoenix, Breezly Brewn' of the Juggaknots, Punchline, Imani Uzuri, El-P and Mr. Len of Company Flow, Jah-Born of Medina Green, John Forté, Mr. Khaliyl, Fre, J-Live, Rubix, Invincible, Wordsworth, A.L., Kofi Taha, Tame One, Jane Doe, Grafh, Shyheim, Channel Live, Wise Intelligent, Cappadonna, Crunch Lo, Rock, Nonchalant, Ras Kass, Dead Prez and Parrish Smith. Producers included Mr. Khaliyl, Organized Noize, and 88-Keys.
Red Hot Organization (2001) In 2001, Kweli and Mos Def, contributed to the Red Hot + Indigo compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization. The compilation was a tribute to Duke Ellington, that raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. Black Star collaborated with fellow artists John Patton and Ron Carter to record "Money Jungle". In 2002, Kweli contributed to the critically acclaimed Red Hot + Riot, a compilation CD created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. He collaborated with fellow hip-hop artists Dead Prez, Jorge Ben, and Bilal to remake the Fela Kuti song "Shuffering and Shmiling", for the album.
Rawkus Records solo albums (2001–2006)
In 2002, Kweli released his first solo album, Quality which featured production from a variety of producers, including DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album was met with widespread critical acclaim and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By" which peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100. Quality peaked at No. 21 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. 6 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
In February 2004, Kweli featured on Kanye West's "Get 'Em High" off of West's debut album The College Dropout.
Kweli made a total of three appearances on Chappelle's Show. He was the second musical guest on the show, which aired on January 29, 2003. For his second appearance, Kweli partnered with Yasiin Bey, as Black Star, for the finale of the show's first season on April 9, 2003. His third and final appearance on the show aired one year later on April 7, 2004.
Kweli was a member of the Spitkicker collective and tours in the early 2000s He produced collaborations with other members of the group, including Dave Chappelle, Pharoahe Monch, De La Soul, and other socially active artists.
In the summer of 2004, Kweli, along with Bob Moore's Amazing Mongrels, supported the Beastie Boys on their "Challah at Your Boy World Tour". That same summer, appeared on a Dilated Peoples song called "Live on Stage". A live remix was later featured on the video game NBA Street Vol. 2.
In the summer of 2004, Kweli also performed at Dave Chappelle's Block Party, both as a solo act and as one half of Black Star, and he was later featured in the film and soundtrack.
In November 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, The Beautiful Struggle, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200. Kweli responded to Jay-Z's 2003 song "Moment of Clarity" in which Jay-Z rapped: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli", in his own track, "Ghetto Show" featuring Common and Anthony Hamilton by stating "If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay-Z." The album featured much more commercial production, including efforts from The Neptunes, Kanye West and Just Blaze.
In 2005, Kweli had appeared in an episode of Trippin', a 2005 MTV environmental documentary television series hosted by Cameron Diaz, also featuring Justin Timberlake, and Jimmy Fallon. On the show, said celebrities visit various ecological locales around the world, in particular underprivileged areas of the world. The four of them traveled to Tanzania to visit one of the world's largest and most thriving ecosystems left on the planet, the Serengeti Plain. There, they had gone into the depths of the Serengeti Plain with a few local zoologists at the time.
BlackSmith Records (2005–2009) In 2005, Kweli released a mixtape-CD with his newly formed Blacksmith Records called Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD, a title which is considered a response to the criticism of The Beautiful Struggle. Some people regard Right About Now as an album because of its availability through commercial sites and its release of two singles. Right About Now also lacks the DJ overlays often accompanied by mixtapes which makes the CD feel more like an album. The album sold 16,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 113 on the Billboard 200. Sparking some controversy, on Right About Now Kweli sampled Ben Kweller's "In Other Words" for his own song "Ms. Hill". In part seven of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song", Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little fucked up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission. In a similar incident, Kweli reacted with outrage on Twitter when a verse from "Fly Away" was sampled in Peter Andre's track of the same name. Kweli stated, "I protect the integrity of my music like a grizzly protects cubs. Woe to those who actively stand in the way of that." Kweli has not publicly addressed his unauthorized use of Kweller's "In Other Words".
In 2006, Kweli signed a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. Warner Brothers launched an online community via Second Life for Kweli. In January, Kweli was featured in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams. In February 2006, Kweli provided the voice of the protagonist in the graffiti-themed video game Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. In October 2006, Kweli performed on MTV's Wild 'N Out, hosted by Nick Cannon.
On December 31, 2006, Kweli released nine songs he recorded with underground producer Madlib for free download in conjunction with the web site for Stones Throw Records, the label to which Madlib is signed. The album was entitled Liberation, of which Kweli states in an interview with XXL Magazine that releasing the album was liberating to him.
In 2007, the album was made available for purchase. In 2007 Kweli signed rapper Jean Grae and the group Strong Arm Steady to Blacksmith Records. Also in 2007, Kweli released his third solo album, Eardrum, on August 21. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, supported by the first single, "Listen!!!".Big Dog Status by Thomas Golianopoulos. XXL Magazine. January 2008. Page 82. Kweli embarked on a national Australian tour in October 2007. Eardrum, which featured a mix of mainstream and underground producers like Kanye West, Just Blaze, will.i.am, Nick Speed and Pete Rock, received generally favorable reviews and went on to sell 129,000 copies after four weeks. Also in 2007, Kweli released a mixtape, entitled Focus. October saw Kweli play one of China's earliest music festivals, the Yue Festival, organised by Split Works, alongside Faithless and Ozomatli.Spli-t.com 2007. Retrieved on 2012-15-08
In March 2008, Kweli was featured on MTV's TV show Made as the coach of Colin Colt, a young man who wanted to be made into a rap star. Also in March, Kweli released his Hostile Gospel video which appeared as the "New Joint of the Day" on BET's 106 & Park. Kweli was a featured artist on the 9th Wonder and Buckshot album The Formula, released on April 29, 2008 (on the track "Hold It Down"). Kweli's Blacksmith Records split with Warner Bros. Records in December 2008. Kweli confirmed to AllHipHop.com that Warner Bros. would still distribute Reflection Eternal and Kweli projects, but not other acts on the Blacksmith label. Kweli was featured at the fifth installment of Hot 97 radio personality Peter Rosenberg's acclaimed live interview series "Noisemakers with Peter Rosenberg" on October 21, 2009. Kweli recorded a mixtape entitled Party Robot with singer Res and musician Graph Nobel under the group alias Idle Warship. The mixtape was released as a free download on the website for Kweli's label Blacksmith with two different cover art options in late 2009. There were videos shot for two of the songs from the album: "Bedroom Lights" and "Black Snake Moan".
In February 2009, it was announced that Kweli would be featured in the graphic novel-turned-animated series Blokhedz on Missiong.com, voicing the lead part of the character Blak. Additionally, Kweli is a spokesperson and mentor for P'Tones Records a non-profit after school music program whose mission is "to create constructive opportunities for urban youth through no-cost music programs."
Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek released a second Reflection Eternal album titled Revolutions Per Minute on May 18, 2010. Revolutions per Minute was recorded at Electric Lady Studios. It is their second album after a 10-year hiatus. The album received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 80/100 from Metacritic.
Javotti Media (2010–present)