Thematic Thursdays: Best Kweli Lyrics of All Time

It’s no secret that Talib Kweli is my favorite emcee. I’m not really sure how it happened. I remember having headphones on in some store in the Beverly Center and bobbing my head really hard to the Black Star album for like an hour. I’d heard him before on a mixtape or Lyricist Lounge or something, but this was different.

Since I won’t be able to see him at the Conga Room tomorrow night because of the recital, and I didn’t see him here in concert a few weeks ago (because my baby was too young), I’ve decided to honor him with this list. In no particular order, you’ll find my favorite Talib Kweli lyrics. They either struck a nerve with me, I related to them or they were flat out dope. I’d love to hear your favs in the comments below.

1 “These cats drink champagne and toast to death and pain
Like slaves on a ship talking about who got the flyest chain”
Africa Dream

2. “Now get this, these emcees wanna test me like litmus, bear witness
My rhymes are like shot clocks, interstate cops, and blood clots
My point is, your flow gets stopped!”
Hater Players

3. “Coming from the deep black like the Loch Ness,
now bring apocalypse like the Heart of Darkness.”
We Got the Beat

4. “Be a doctor or a lawyer make your momma a promise that
You’ll finish school, but when you got a dream
you gotta follow that, And make sure when you make it out the hood, you always holler back. Think about what you got from that and always put your dollars back
On top of that, this is a legacy and we a part of that
The hood is where my heart is at”
Black Girl Pain

5. “Stop acting like a b*tch already, be a visionary”
Definition

6. “Places where you could get murdered over a glare, but everything is fair. It’s a paradox we call reality, so keeping it real will make you a casualty of abnormal normality”
Respiration

7. “I black and blue emcees – actin new to me, get smacked stupidly
They lack skills, like the black community lack unity”
Guerilla Monsoon Rap (feat. Pharaoh Monch, Kanye, and Black Thought)

8. “Even when the condition is critical, when the liven’ is miserable
Your position is pivotal, I ain’t bullshittin’ you”
Get By

9. “Life without knowledge is death in disguise”
K.O.S. (Knowledge of Self)

10. “you like my reflection, better half to my whole
like lyrics to the beat, you the mate for my soul”
Beautiful

11. “I bet on brothers with nothing to live for
to give more to the struggle, they already at war”
Respiration (remix)

12. “Hard to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin what you believe in”

Respiration

13. “Persistance, dedication
Consistent, motivation,
resistance to stagnation of information,
distribute it free to the entire population
No hesitation, makin it public
No privitazation from corporations”
Name of the Game

14. “Those who would trade in their freedom
For their protection deserve neither”
Going Hard

16. “Back in the day they stole our smile, so we clothe our teeth in gold.”
Manifesto (Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1)

17. “Life is a beautiful struggle
People search through the rubble for a suitable hussle
Some people using their noodle
Some people using their muscle
Some people put it all together make it fit like a puzzle”
I Try

18. “Spit bars you can’t touch, like tits in strip bars, get scarred, I drop hits to hit hard”
Waiting for the DJ

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