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Hip-Hop Artist

"If skills sold/Truth be told/I'd probably be/Lyrically/Talib Kweli." That famous name-dropping in a verse from 2003's "Moment of Clarity" conveyed that megastar Jay-Z, like many hip-hop heads, recognized the skill and intellect of fellow Brooklyn son, Talib Kweli. Now, after the release of Eardrum, his sixth effort and first on his own Blacksmith label; Kweli himself sits at the start of a new chapter in his career.

"I'm not an artist who's thought of as your traditional mainstream artist," explains Kweli. "So the idea that I can put out the type of album I want on my own label and also sign other artists speaks volumes."

Founding Blacksmith was a mere extension of Kweli's current state of mind and, in the midst of ever-growing frustration with most hip-hop that gets airplay, Kweli understood that he had to have a strong stable of artists along for the ride.

"In order to have forward movement you can't really do it alone, and you need to have people around you that are going to challenge you," he says. "Creatively, that's the draw about having a label and dealing with artists like Strong Arm Steady and Jean Grae."As Eardrum indicates, Kweli is far from creatively stagnant. He's also taken his communal approach to political activism, he and Mos Def are longtime affiliates of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Black August, trying to bring awareness to the plight of political prisoners and issues that affect people of color globally, and Kweli is participating in the Fort Greene Fest - a celebration of the Brooklyn community.

"People always come up to me and Mos and they treat us like hip-hop activists," Kweli shares. "I think someone who's out there on the front lines [in the] community and dealing with [issues that affect] black people truly needs my support." - todd williams

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