NEO•GRIOT

By: Talib Kweli | Yearoftheblacksmith.com (Add to your loop)  
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 10:24

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*Editor's Note: On July 15, TheLoop21.com contributor Mychal Smith wrote 'Talib Kweli and the demise of the conscious rapper.' Mr. Kweli read the piece and contacted us via twitter asking us to post his response. Here' s what he had to say:

I have been working on my new album, Prisoner Of Conscious since the summer began. It is a title I have had floating in my head for quite some time, but it is even more relevant right now. Hip Hop is like bipartisan politics these days. Everyone chooses sides and argues for the sake of the argument, not to actually achieve any clarity.

I am a man and an artist of the people. When I say that, I do not just mean people I agree with, people who understand me or people I can relate to. I mean the people in the truest sense of the term. This philosophy, although professed by many intellectuals, is lost on them. They would rather judge the masses as a foolish body, greatly in need of their intellectual musings. Any public figure who attracts a crowd of people should be examined, and if they are smart about their business they are to be respected. Respect transcends personal taste, you can and often should respect your enemy.

Now I don't know Mychal Smith, but what I do know is he is a blogger that follows me on Twitter, and I guess my decision to record with Gucci Mane bothered him enough to blog about it, declaring my move a part of the demise of the conscious rapper.

I offer a different take. I say people like Mychal Smith are every bit as caught up in the flashing lights as the "ignorant" masses they like to judge. Instead of celebrating it, they get joy from speaking against it. They truly believe not liking Gucci Mane makes them intellectually superior to say, some chic down south. They pay so much attention to what they perceive to be negative, based on a limited world view, that they miss the positive, even when it's right in their face.

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READ MORE:

• Talib Kweli and the demise of the conscious rapper
• Pickin’ cotton: Why Black artists still ain't free
• An open letter to Slim Thug
• I hate Drake. There, I said it.

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The week the Gucci/Kweli record leaked, I performed at the Lupus fundraiser for the J Dilla Foundation, and also recorded a PSA about SB 1070. I performed with the Roots, Blitz the Ambassador, Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew at Prospect Park for Okay Africa. My kids were with me. I also performed at the Duck Down 15th anniversary party, and I recorded a song about the Age of Enlightenment to help NYC high school kids pass the regents for Fresh Prep. These are not high paying gigs, this is for the love. And this is one week of work.

I haven't even counted the fact that my release with Hi Tek, Revolutions Per Minute a month ago as well as Eardrum and Liberation, my last two, were packed with "conscious" hip hop. Even outside of my music, my life is that of a conscious community driven man. Somehow, doing a song with Gucci Mane erases all of this in some people's minds. Who are they to judge me? What do they do in their lives that is conscious? If you ain't doing more than me; you just blogging, fall back.

I'd be willing to bet Mychal Smith did not purchase my latest album. I know for sure he did not take into account my musical output or who I am as a person when he wrote his blog. To people like him, I am simply a character, a one dimensional celebrity, who is supposed to conform to his idea of what good art is, not my own.

Now to break down the pseudo intellectualism on display"

"Then Talib Kweli does a song with Gucci Mane and I'm forced to reevaluate everything I believe."- MS

Mr. Smith, my choice to do a song with Gucci is my choice. It doesn't force you to reevaluate anything. If it does, you should re-examine what your beliefs are based on.

"After Kweli co-signed Slim Thug's idiotic comments...and his assertion that people don't like Drake simply because he's successful..."-MS

Mr. Smith, go back and read my feed. Stating my opinion is not co-signing anything. When Slim Thug said dudes will make it rain before they pay a mortgage, that was a valid point. My point was that his valid points were overlooked because of the generalizations. As far as Drake, I know a dope MC when I hear one. Whether it pertains to you or not, there are certainly people who hate him because he is forced down their throats on radio, who would have loved him had they discovered his mixtapes years ago, as I did. When he shouts out Slum Village and Little Brother in songs and raps honestly about the pitfalls of stardom, I look at that as a victory for conscious music, not a problem.

Also, the BMF song is banging, by the way.

Mr. Smith is correct when he talks about the pitfalls of labeling yourself the conscious artist. If you listen to my records, I tried to distance myself from that label very early in my career. I would often go on about the positive influence artists like Jay-Z and Diddy had on me when underground journalists would try to get me to co-sign their personal hate. He is also correct when he says no artist wants to be in a box. But his understanding stops there because his is the perspective of an outsider. It is much more complicated when you are in this business actually doing it for a living. Just because I don't like labels doesn't make my music or my output any less responsible, and neither does a song with Gucci Mane. My track record speaks for itself. My last video wasBallad Of The Black Gold...

Common is from the south side of Chicago, like Lupe. Common been pimpin in his rhymes since his first album. Lupe was a thug rapper before the Lupe we know today. I'm from Brooklyn, NY. My music reflects it all, Brownsville and Park Slope. In Mychal Smith's view, the fact that I recorded Papers Please for Arizona and did a song with Gucci means I'm trying to be everything to everyone. No fam, I'm just being me. I'm sorry it makes your head explode that I actually might enjoy Gucci's music, but I do. I didn't do it for money, I did it because I wanted to. He is a dynamic artist that is serving his fan base well. I love music enough to be curious as to what our collaboration would sound like, and he did too. I didn't compromise my style or views on the song, and as a musician, it was fun (remember that, fun?).

Gucci Mane's fans need to hear my music for sure, and some of my fans could use a little Gucci in their lives. I am down for all my people, even the Gucci fans. Deal with it. As far as those who say, "well, he raps about drugs," if you take Tylenol or drink, then stop judging. For those who say I shouldn't do a song with him because he hit a woman on You Tube, well, I know conscious rappers that have hit women. They just aint on You Tube with it. People make mistakes, that's his karma to deal with. I wouldn't want someone to not record with me based on some of the f---ed up things I've done in life.

Mychal Smith seems to love hip hop, and love our people. But sometimes we, as a people, can be so blinded by what we perceive to be negative, that we forget to support the positive. If you are dismayed by the state of music, spend more time supporting the artists who actually try to change it instead tearing them down. The music will change, and as you get older, mainstream music will make less sense to you. Take the audience an artist is speaking to into account before you judge them. You may not be in their audience. One love.