Talib Kweli

With a blend of Afrocentrism, emotional transparency and elite rap dexterity, Talib Kweli is what you think of when you hear the term "conscious rap." Born Talib Kweli Greene in 1975, the Brooklyn native emerged with Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) as part of Black Star. The duo's debut album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, became a staple of the underground rap canon. When he wasn't connecting with producer Hi-Tek as the duo Reflection Eternal, Kweli was releasing his own solo albums, with 2002's Quality, powered by the Ye-produced "Get By," cementing his status as an icon of the Rawkus Records era. Since then, he's only reinforced his reputation with thoughtful solo LPs like The Beautiful Struggle (2004), Eardrum (2007), and Prisoner of Conscious (2013), as well as further collaborations with Madlib (2023's Liberation 2) and with Bey as Black Star (2022's No Fear of Time).