Talib Kweli's making a statement against the major label machine and streaming service in his new collab with Madlib. On Tuesday, Kweli debuted his new single, "Longevity."
Talib and Madlib cooked The 10-year-old record for Liberation 2, though it never landed on the final cut. Madlib's production embodies the bustling energy of the New York City streets, a perfect companion to Kweli's rugged flow. The Black Star member reflects on his tenure in the rap game, kicking off the hook with a rhetorical question to the listener. "How he stay makin' that paper? It's longevity," Kweli raps in the song.
Now available on DSPs, Talib said that he wanted to help support Bandcamp to empower indie rappers.
"I have released a song I recorded with @madlib from ten years ago, when I first started working on Liberation 2," Kweli wrote on Instagram. "There have been many songs recorded for this project since then, but I wanted to give my supporters a taste of the earlier ones so they can take this beautiful journey with us. I appreciate your support and I will see you all at Bandcamp! Culture over everything. Shout out to Madlib."
The relationship between Madlib and Kweli developed over the years, leading the former to produce the latest Black Star album in its entirety. No Fear Of Time dropped on May 3rd, 2022, exclusively on Luminary. Perhaps, we'll be hearing more from Kweli and Madlib in the near future.
Check out the song below and sound off with your thoughts in the comments.
Quotable Lyrics
Unless we talkin' skills on this mic, my shit is state of art
When real n***as rap, just shut the fuck up and play your part
You just an actor, you clearly need some direction
Like Tyrone look at crack, consider us intervention