Kevin from KevinNottingham cooked up a dope interview with Talib Kweli. Anyone that wants to remain “credible” as a hip-hop head will drop his name amongst his favorites – almost as much as people drop KRS-One or Rakim. Next time you hear one of those types, ask them their favorite line and see what their response is. Enough with the hating, here’s the fireside chat with one of my favorite emcees: Talib Kweli.
(via TIHH)
TIHH: What’s good Talib? The time is much appreciated. Wanted to get right into things and see what you have going on this year; It has been rumored that you may be dropping three albums this year: Prisoner of Consciousness, a second Reflection Eternal album, and Party Robot with R&B singer Res as the group Idle Warship? Can you talk briefly about each rumored project?
TK: Everything is good. The Reflection Eternal project is a go, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Nati at Hi Tek’s studio. We are trying to have that out before the summer on Blacksmith Warner Brothers. Hi Tek got some heat, he still my favorite producer. The Idle Warship album is an organic process. We are putting the finishing touches on Party Robot and we will be releasing music with an independent spirit. Look out for Idle Warship, which is me Res and Graph Nobel from Toronto, and Reflection Eternal at the Blacksmith Showcase, Thursday March 19th at the Scoot Inn, during South By Southwest in Austin. That is the goal of Idle Warship. No Prisoner, but maybe Liberation 2.
TIHH: What has the response to the Idle Warship project been? When did this idea come about and when was it put into full “go mode”?
TK: I was cleaning the crib one day and I go thru CDs that are given to me when I do this. I have stacks of them. I played one by someone named Zeferiah. The tracks were great, but I didn’t see how they fit my brand. Res, who has been on all of my albums, was on the phone with me alot talking about trying to release music online. We decided to do the song Steady over one of Zeferiahs tracks, and called the music Idle Warship. We knew it was different from what ours fans come to expect and that’s what got us excited about it. Graph Nobel is a good friend and great talent. She jumped on Black Snake Moan, and tore down a New Years Eve show with us at the Roosevelt Hotel last year. We put her in the group the next day.
TIHH: There have been talk/rumors that you would like to work with/sign Rakim and Camp Lo. What’s your relationship with those artists? If a label situation does not work out do you plan on working them on any future projects?
TK: Those are old rumors. Rakim was someone Corey and I were interested in early in our venture, but he had a lot going on at the time. Corey has worked with Camp Lo before, and they have been down with Blacksmith since back when Corey managed De La Soul, but there is no official plans to release stuff with them. I be seeing Chiba out a lot recently though, we need to get up do a joint.
TIHH: By now, this should be old news, but, is Jean Grae actually retiring?…
