“In the age of information we no longer have the luxury of pretending that we can’t fight bigotry and injustice in all of it’s forms, whether marching in the streets or combating it online, “ he says. “Silence has always been complicity, silence is death. They beg us for our silence because they cannot argue with our truth. People who ask artists to shut up and sing do not want peace, or justice. They want silence.”

Talib Kweli made his mark as a collaborator early in his career by making classic albums like Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star and Talib Kweli and Hi Tek Are Reflection Eternal. He then dropped a series of solo albums. His first, Quality, featured the genre defining stand out song Get By, his first of many collaborations with Kanye West. Quality was followed by Beautiful Struggle, Eardrum and Right About Now. Along the way, Talib Kweli worked with The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake and Norah Jones, as well as more underground artists like Jean Grae, J Dilla and Mad Lib.

Talib Kweli’s partnership with Mad Lib led to one of the first free albums in the industry, Liberation. Liberation was followed by a return to reflection Eternal with Hi Tek, called Revolutions Per Minute. It was after this project that Talib Kweli decided to leave the traditional music business and go the independent route. Named after his grandmother Javotte Greene, Javotti Media was formed, giving Talib Kweli the freedom to decide exactly when and how he would release his music. The first Javotti release, Gutter Rainbows, was followed up a couple of years later with Prisoner Of Conscious. Talib Kweli also formed K weliclub.com , an online store that allowed him to cut the music industry out altogether and deliver his music directly to the fans that had supported his career. Kweliclub.com was celebrated with the releases of a pair of albums, Gravitas and Fuck The Money, respectively.

In 2015, Talib Kweli partnered with 9th Wonder to drop a joint album called INDIE500 and in the winter of 2017 he partnered with Styles P of the LOX to release The Seven. Kweli’s next album, Radio Silence speaks directly to his desire to never be silenced. Produced by Mr. Carmack andvAbjo, Radio Silence’s title track, which features appearances by Amber Coffman and Myka 9, finds Kweli exploring what criminality means in today’s world over otherworldly production that is guaranteed to excite any fan of music. The gospel flavored Heads up, Eyes Open, feature a searing hook from Yummy Bingham and a very introspective verse from Rick Ross. Both Kweli and Rick Ross explore the affect of spirituality in their lives. This song grew out of conversations Kweli and Rick Ross had about the importance of moral obligations in music.