With DJ Chaps on the wheels of steel and two sultry back up singers at each corner of the stage Kweli had no problem grabbing the crowd’s attention with his veracious words of wisdom.

With DJ Chaps on the wheels of steel and two sultry back up singers at each corner of the stage Kweli had no problem grabbing the crowd’s attention with his veracious words of wisdom. Visuals of iconic black figures such as Run DMC, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcom X flashed on the screen behind DJ Chaps, adding emotional weight to the words that reverberated throughout Highline Ballroom’s breathtaking sound system. As Kweli performed songs spanning his illustrious career his dance rhythms appeared to correlate with the emotional intensity of the lyrics, as if the words were controlling him rather than the other way around. On many occasions DJ Chaps would break a beat; thus, forcing Kweli to adjust a word’s inflection, which in turn would alter the groove of Kweli’s dance movement. This subconscious communication between Kweli and Chaps was so fluid that it never interrupted the show’s energetic vibe. Besides performing flawless renditions of classic hits like “The Blast” from Train of Thought, “Respiration” (minus Common) from Blackstar, and Quality’s “Get By” he incorporated a few freestyles backed by beats ranging from the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” all the way to Mims top selling single, “This Is Why I’m Hot.” During the “This Is Why I’m Hot” freestyle Kweli did not fail to mention Don Imus and his disapproval for people who call women derogatory names. Kweli finished the show with a few tracks from Eardrum, which included the album’s first single, “Listen !!!,” also featured in the EA Sports video game NBA Live ’07.

Kweli’s performance was an hour and a half show that B-boys of all ages could have enjoyed because the lyrics just kept flowing without ever becoming whack. By whack I mean boring or fruitless, which is the kind of Hip Hop that crowds the pop charts while conscious artists like Talib Kweli, Blackalicious, Guru, etc. release albums that get slept on repeatedly. Don’t misunderstand me, Hip Hop is a multi-faceted cultural revolution that includes many forms of spoken word expressionism, and not everyone can dance to music that is meant to spark thoughts about our worldly existence; but for people like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones to comment that Hip Hop leaves him cold is evidence that the essence of all Hip Hop is being overshadowed by rappers who lack the education or desire to write lyrics that positively impact today’s youth. Kweli himself believes that “we need to challenge our audience but we also need to challenge ourselves to know that whatever our new experiences are, we can write about them, be creative and bring that to an audience without them feeling alienated.” Talib Kweli gives hope to Hip Hop, and it’s rappers like him that will keep the game alive for years to come.

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