Jay-Z had it easy, facing few restrictions in his quest for money and stardom. Unapologetically driven by material desires and founded on a platform of social Darwinism, Jay-Z’s ascent to mogul-hood represents capitalism in its purest form. Like most rappers, Talib Kweli wants what Jay-Z hasmoney, esteem, an audiencebut in his pursuit of these goals he’s been held to a much stricter standard than Jay-Z. Long ago labeled a conscious rapper by his fans, Kweli is expected to be above the perceived vanity of mainstream rap.
So Kweli has found clever ways to reconciling the two competing factions of his audiencethe masses that devour slick, poppy rap, and the more vocal contingent that accepts only the intelligent, beats-and-rhymes hip-hop for which Kweli has been best known. His solution is to provide something for everyone, though not always in the same package. In 2007, for instance, to cushion the blow of Eardrum, his most explicitly commercial albumone anchored by appearances from Justin Timberlake, will.i.am and Norah JonesKweli tossed his underground constituency a bone in the form of a free (and, for that matter, freeform) online album called Liberation, an uncompromising collaboration with alternative-rap producer Madlib. The strategy worked. Eardrum was Kweli’s highest charting album yet, but it sparked little backlash from underground hip-hop circles, which were too busy fawning over Liberation to take umbrage over Kweli’s commercial concessions.
Tonight’s show should thrill Kweli’s underground base. It reunites the rapper with Hi-Tek, the DJ and producer behind two of Kweli’s most beloved early albums, including his record with Mos Def as Black Star.
