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Talib Kweli

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Talib Kweli (born Talib Kweli Greene, 1975) is a African American Muslim rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most prominent rappers in underground hip-hop, and is critically acclaimed frequently, despite not having significant commercial success. His name is Arabic, meaning 'the seeker' or 'student of truth and knowledge'. His parents were both college professors: his mother an English professor, his father a sociology professor. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse and soon began recording with producer Hi Tek and rapper Mos Def whom he had known since the two attended high school together. With Mos Def (together the pair were known as Black Star), Kweli achieved some mainstream success with the eponymously titled album Black Star. (1998) While Mos Def went on to a successful solo career, Kweli released the Hi Tek-produced Reflection Eternal in 2000. He has since released a critically acclaimed solo debut, Quality, in 2002. In 2004, Kweli released his second solo album, The Beautiful Struggle, which features production more akin to commercial rap, while Kweli's lyrics retain their powerful social-political content. Kweli has created his own record label, Blacksmith Records and has recently signed acclaimed female rapper Jean Grae, with rumors continuing to grow that underground veteran MF Doom is the next artist to be picked up (Kweli also appeared on the MF Doom/Danger Mouse collaboration The Mouse and the Mask, on the song "Old School"). He left Geffen Records and has signed with the powerful Warner Music Group.

He has since broken through slightly more towards the mainstream, thanks in large part to several appearances on the comedy show Chappelle's Show, both solo and with long-time collaborator Mos Def; this is due to a friendship between the host and creator of the show, comedian Dave Chappelle and the rapper. He also had a guest spot on friend Kanye West's widely successful debut album The College Dropout on the track "Get 'Em High". West has also produced some of Kweli's songs, including his biggest commercial hit "Get By". He also can be seen in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams.

In 2006 Kweli appeared in the videogame Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure as the voice of lead character Trane.

He is also featured in the Black Eyed Peas song "Like That".

Discography

Studio Albums:

Mixtapes:

Bootlegs:

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