Def Jam Poetry – Talib Kweli

In a turn from my previous acoustic, folk style posts, I thought I’d delve into my Hip Hop genre here. A friend of mine this week told me that I “shouldn’t listen to hip hop, as you can’t relate to this gangsta lifestyle.” This led to a fairly heated debate (mainly down to him disrespecting my gangsta lifestyle) but mainly because I don’t agree with that. That in mind, this gem from Kweli I think can be related to by anybody who gives it a listen.

A man of powerful words

Def Jam Poetry is an opportunity for artists to perform spoken word performances with no musical backing. I would really recommend checking out a lot of their stuff, but frankly, this is the best that there is to be found. Religion is a topic that is only touched upon in mainstream music, and while Kanye had much success with Jesus Walks, I think this is a more interesting look at religion as an ideology, not merely as an aspect of society. His natural flow here, matched with what he is actually saying, leaves me in awe every time I listen to this. Give it a listen, then another, then one more, and I guarantee that you too will be a Kweli fan.