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Talib Kweli is a rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most prominent rappers in underground hip-hop, and is critically acclaimed frequently, despite not being incredibly commercially successful. His name is Arabic, meaning ‘the seeker’ or ‘student of truth and knowledge’. His parents were both college professors: his mother an English professor, his father a sociology professor. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul(LA LE LU) and other members of the Native Tongues Posse and soon began recording with producer Hi-Tek and rapper Mos Def who he met at central park, and later attended New York University with. With Mos Def (together the pair were known as Black Star), Kweli achieved some mainstream success with the eponymously titled album Black Star. (1998) While Mos Def went on to a solo career. Also noted are Talib and Mos Def’s central input on the Rawkus Records CD SoundBombing (1997) which includes a great mix of rappers linked together on the CD mixed by ‘Evil Dee’, Kweli released the Hi Tek-produced Reflection Eternal in 2000, which sold better than most alternative hip hop albums at the time. He has since released a critically acclaimed solo debut, Quality, in 2002. In 2004, Kweli released his second solo album, The Beautiful Struggle, which features production more akin to commercial rap, while Kweli’s lyrical content retains its powerful social-political content. His third solo album Ear Drum was released on August 21st, 2007 on Warner Bros./Blacksmith Music.