Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli is an American MC from Brooklyn, New York City. He is one of the best-known and critically successful rappers in alternative Hip-hop. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker"; his middle name in Swahili means "true." http://music.aol.com/artist/talib-kweli/biography/1280863

Kweli was born to two college professor parents and got his lyrical start writing poetry and short stories in school. He later met Mos Def in high school and the two became interested in hip-hop. In 1994 he met Cincinnati DJ Hi-Tek and the two formed the rap group Reflection Eternal and recorded their first album together in 1997. Later, Talib reunited with his school friend, Mos Def, and he joined to form the group BlackStar. They released their first album as a trio in 1998, but when Mos Def left to record a solo album, the duo reformed as Reflection Eternal and released a self-titled album in 2000.http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/artist.jhtml#biographyEnd

In 2002, Kweli recorded his first solo album "Quality" which featured the popular single "Get By". His second solo record, "The Beautiful Struggle" was released in the fall of 2004. The album was released under Universal Records and after the release, Kweli broke with his distributor. He went on to release a mixtape CD in 2005 entitled "Right About Now". Most recently, he recorded a third studio album "Eardrum", which was released in 2007. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.http://music.aol.com/artist/talib-kweli/biography/1280863

Despite medium commercial success, Kweli has earned the respect of his peers in the hip-hop arena. In a track from the Black Album, fellow rapper Jay-Z said, "If skills sold, truth be told, lyrically, I'd probably be, Talib Kweli."http://music.aol.com/artist/talib-kweli/biography/1280863 Kweli married his long time girlfriend DJ Eque in a private ceremony on May 9, 2009. Attendees included Queen Latifah and DJ Rashida.http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2009/05/10/21544312.aspx

• 1998: BlackStarhttp://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml
• 2000: "Reflection Eternal"http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml
• 2002: Qualityhttp://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml
• 2004: The Beautiful Strugglehttp://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml
• 2005: Right About Nowhttp://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml
• 2007: Eardrumhttp://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kweli_talib/albums.jhtml