Talib Kweli pulled a DMX on us this year (without the legendary strides of struggle, of course). His sixth solo studio album in Gravitas will actually be his second release of the year as Prisoner of Conscious dropped in May.
Hip-Hop has a way of coming full circle and then doing a zig-zag turn to the middle. Kweli vividly recalls bringing Macklemore & Ryan Lewis out to perform with him in Seattle last year and now, the well-diversified veteran recently closed out his end of the bargain as an opening act on the Grammy-Nominated duo’s on World Tour.
As it was grandly designed, the tour came to a close in Seattle and that’s where Sermon’s Domain gave the workaholic rapper the camera time to reflect on his experience.
“I was familiar with The Heist [that] had just came out and I was familiar with his pedigree, and I was familiar with his hometown hero status. But I didn’t know his skill level,” he recalls with Sermon. It didn’t take long for Kweli to see the revelation that would eventually land the pair a slew of Grammy nods. “We he got on the stage, the level of the energy in the crowd went up because he was the hometown hero and because he was killing it!”
Talib also reveals that another unlikely inspiration forced him to put out his new LP.
“When Ryan Leslie came to me with the idea, I had just put out the Prisoners of Conscious but and I just got inspired to write. When you read the credits to Gravitas after you buy it, I explain the thought process behind every song.”
The Brooklynite is still a few shades under 40-years-old with no signs of G-Dep in his step (that’s killing his career for the metaphor impaired).
Grab Gravitas on #KweliClub right now and watch the rest of the video where he expands on more new rappers who are breaking through the commercial barrier and his humble beginnings at New York City’s infamous Tunnel nightclub.
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Photo: YouTube
