Talib Kweli is a legendary rapper who released one of the greatest hip hop albums of all-time in Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. (Black Star recently announced a follow-up LP.) But his accomplishments go beyond his music. Kweli is a socially conscious activist who calls out injustice when he sees it; he was memorably banned from Twitter after exposing an alt-right troll. He’s also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, including well over $100,000 for the Ferguson Defense Fund following the death of Michael Brown.
While visiting Austin, Texas, for SXSW, Kweli dropped by the Uproxx House for a conversation with Rawkus Records founder (and Uproxx publisher) Jarret Myer about President Obama (“He wanted to be known as the guy who helped curb mass incarceration”), music streaming services, and social media. “They’re being Nazis for fun,” he said about Twitter trolls, “but the ideology is dangerous.” The self-proclaimed “hip-hop balladeer” also discussed the future of Black Star. “Mos has been for a number of years redefining his relationship to the music business and to his fans,” he said, “and I think now he’s in a place where it started with him being really interested in doing multiple Black Star shows… and he changed the way he dealt with his business.”
Watch the interview above. For more Uproxx Talks, head here.
