Talib Kweli

Released: May 7, 2013

Songwriter: Rafael Salano Oh No Talib Kweli

Producer: Oh No

[Verse 1]
I exhibit characteristics of the average misfit
Who graduated from stabbing and grabbing a biscuit
It’s sick and tragic how antagonistic we get
When there's no power it go sour
I seen 'em crossing a bridge by the masses,
Covered in the ashes of both towers
Native New Yorker the way that we talk
Make him an offer that you can't refuse
Come back later on after you thought it over
Look out for shooters that we’re popping up at the opera
To pop ya, daughters paying for the sins of the god father
Popular music got ‘em confusing killers and artists
I kill it the hardest. Competition dearly departed
They feeling some sort of way 'cuz my flow revealing the garbage
I'm making 'em throw it up. You just making the people vomit
When it comes to this rhymin' I’m a legend like Tutankhamun,
Or the Chupacabra, the way I weave it together and tie the knot up
Made a macramé of macabre, you daquiri with a shot of
The Amarretta, you’re sweet as a girly drink
Throw it back, cognac, I'm the best, you know that
You can have your own opinion, but not your own facts
On track as the most prolific ever, the most consistently
Viciously off the rip, we be rippin' it like a shredder
Some symphony hall shit, gettin' higher than your falsetto,
Getting better. Drop a pearl every jam like Eddie Vedder
Very fed up with self appointed preservers of past eras
Who never see their reflection when they’re walking past mirrors
They got bitten and now they smitten with the taste of blood
They take enough drugs for the sleepin' they weepin' and fuckin' they make-up up
I raise the bar and the waiters up
All this hate is just confused unadulterated love
The eyes are the window to the souls and my shades is up
Advocate for artists, regardless cause I got faith in us
For the workers who don’t get paid enough
Take the bus, hands way too rough for the paper cuts
As far as they’re concerned food on the table's the only way to love
It takes a slum village to raise a child, you got to raise it up
Raise it up, raise it up,raise it up, take it up, take it up

If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time. As it was, however, the earnest MC became one of the most critically successful rappers of his time, which dawned in the late ‘90s when he rapped alongside Yasiin Bey (then known as Mos Def) and DJ Hi-Tek as part of the group Black Star.

Talib is known for his numerous collaborations with other artists like Kanye West, Common, Madlib, Bilal, The Roots, Dead Prez, Q-Tip, John Legend, the list is endless. He has also embraced a whole new generation like Blu, Kendrick Lamar, Curren$y, and Ab-Soul.

Kweli has recently spearheaded a direct-to-fan means of distributing his music via his new site #KweliClub. Check it out to get his latest music including many free downloads.

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