NOVEMBER
The past couple of months, the "Who To Know" profile has been on an up-and-comer. Kendrick Lamar is getting all of the attention he deserves while Blu and Exile remain one of the most underrated rapper/producer combos in the game. This November, however, the "Who To Know" will feature a true veteran. One who is still making big moves despite already being considered one of the most talented and legendary lyricist in all of hip hop. A man who has time and time again given back to the young up-and-comers of the game. A man who, in one way or another, is connected to virtually every single artist that has ever been featured on this blog. That man is Talib Kweli. From the Black Star days to his upcoming album release, Talib Kweli has been one of the most highly respected figures in the hip hop. He even had a hand in the creation of this blog. It is for this reason that the "Who To Know" for the month of November is dedicated to Talib Kweli.
(Black Star)
The first verse I ever heard by Talib Kweli was from the Black Star song, "Definition." Now before you start giving me flack for not jumping on his earlier stuff or picking a song that wasn't a single, let me explain something. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star came out in 1998. That means I was only eight years old at the time. Therefore, I had to do some back tracking to hear the melodic flows and lyrically dense verses of Black Star. I wish I could tell you that I was the only 3rd grader blasting Mos and Talib out of my home stereo speakers after school, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Nevertheless, the result was the same. I, like so many other rap fans throughout the years, became hooked. Black Star did not only entertain people in a way that the majority of rap at the time could not. It raised the standard for what real hip hop could sound like, thus forcing the listener to demand more out of the artists they listen too. This has only been done a few times over the history of rap and its impact is not to be taken lightly.
(Prisoner of Conscious)
(Push Thru - Talib Kweli feat. Curren$y & Kendrick Lamar)
(On a more personal note, Talib Kweli has influenced me immensely. Originally, I started blogging in order to get some opinions off my chest about the current state of hip hop. I had considered taking it more seriously, but even if I did, it wasn't going to be for a while. My plan was to build up content for a while and then, maybe, start telling people about it. Anyway, to get to the point, I wrote up a piece on Talib Kweli entitled "Talib Kweli: The Most Connected Man in Hip Hop," nearly a month ago. I had just set up a twitter for the blog and sent out a tweet saying "Is @TalibKweli the most connected man in hip hop? Read all about it at #RealRadio" with a link to my blog. This, of course, resulted in a spike in traffic on my site, but more importantly, it influenced me to start taking the blog more seriously. I hadn't even told my friends about it and one of my idols in hip hop, a man that I just wrote a story about, had presumably read my post and decided to share it with his fans. The only reason I assume he actually read it, or at the very least skimmed through it, is because if it had been an article bashing him, he probably wouldn't want to retweet that to his fans. Even if this is not the case, the result is the same. I've continued to post new content on the blog, trying to keep each post as honest and educational as possible, I have begun getting featured on other blogs and forming connections with those bloggers, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. So if you like anything you've read on this site, thank Talib Kweli for, without even realizing it, pushing me to do this. Thank you.)
