Talib Kweli names his 10 favorite albums of all time

VIBER X GANG – 6

Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli is named a extremely proficient lyricist. As a hip-hop purist, Kweli has by no means tried to chart or cross into the mainstream however has all the time put lyrical ability and substance first.

With songs such as ‘Get By’ and ‘Black Girl Pain’ addressing real-world issues and struggles inside the African-American neighborhood, some could attempt to label him as a acutely aware rapper. Nonetheless, Kweli’s music is just grounded in a dire actuality.

With a number of manufacturing from Kanye West, even managing to characteristic on his debut album School Dropout, Kweli has all the time leaned in the direction of soulful hip hop. Past soul, Kweli has been identified to include components of gospel into his music whereas exploring themes round spirituality.

The rapper’s profession started within the late Nineties as one half of the duo Black Star with Mos Def. Signing to Rawkus Information in 1997, Kweli, in collaboration with Def, launched his Hip Hop for Respect EP to talk out towards police brutality in 2000.

Pursuing a solo career, in 2002, Kweli released his debut album, Quality. The album featured a number of manufacturing from Kanye West and DJ Quik, specifically, and acquired widespread essential acclaim. Kweli went on to launch a complete of eight full-length studio albums, together with his third album, Eardrum, peaking at quantity two on the Billboard 200. 

Kweli and Mos Def are nonetheless lively immediately because the duo Black Star and even launched their second studio album, No Concern of Time, earlier this yr. Whereas talking with Expertise Vinyl, a streaming service for whom Kweli is a curator, the rapper listed his prime ten albums of all time, and it’s honest to say it is extremely soulful and never stunning.

Affordable Doubt is probably the best displaying of Kweli’s respect for hip ho;. Flourished with Jay’s undoubted charisma, he exudes a way of calm and picked up menace that different rappers have by no means matched. He additionally did all of this whereas offering among the most searing rhymes ever seen, effortlessly merging syllables, curating vivid imagery and, all in all, delivering one hell of an album.

Talib Kweli’s 10 favorite albums of all time:

• Mama’s Gun – Erykah Badu, (2001)
• Affordable Doubt – Jay-Z, (1996)
• Completed By The Forces Of Nature – Jungle Brothers, (1989)
• Dwell At Filmore West – Aretha Franklin, (1971)
• Legend – Bob Marley, (1984)
• Winter in America – Gil Scott-Heron, (1974)
• De La Soul is Useless – De La Soul, (1991)
• Midnight Marauders – A Tribe Known as Quest, (1993)
• Illmatic – Nas, (1994)
• A Love Supreme – John Coltrane, (1965)

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