Talib Kweli is always on the lookout for rising talent, so when it came time to recruit emcees for hisPrisoner of Conscious track Push Thru, he knew to enlist Rolling Stone cover starKendrick Lamar for the 2013 track.
Kendrick is somebody who in his music is very much aligned with movement and activism and the whole Black Lives Matter movement, Talib Kwelitells Rolling Stone in a new interview on what the mainstream success of rapper Kendrick Lamarmeans. I hear that movement in his lyrics.
Kweli uses a scene from the Parks & Recreation finale to expound on the significance of a rapper as socially conscious as Lamar reaching beyond primarily black communities. For [his] name to have so much recognition that it makes it to a joke on that show is impressive for someone who started on the mixtapes, says Kweli.
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Kweli also notes how Lamars versatility has allowedmyriad subcultures to claim him as their own. Its very interesting that everyone is trying to claim Kendrick in their audience. The underground, real hip-hop fans are saying Kendrick Lamar is to us. The mainstream pop is saying hes to us. And hes just trying to figure it out.
To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamars highly anticipated follow-up to his 2012 major label debut good kid, m.A.A.d city was surprise-released Sunday night, one week earlier than expected.
In his Rolling Stonecover story, the Compton rapper described the new material as fearful, honest and unapologetic as it explores the landscape of being black in America throughout history and up to this very moment. You take a black kid out of Compton and put him in the limelight, and you find answers about yourself you never knew you were searching for, he said. Theres some stuff in there, man. Its a roller coaster. It builds.
Kwelis last studio album, Gravitas, was released in 2013. He recentlysigned rapper Niko Is, who released his latest album Brutus in February, through his label Javotti Music.