Bibliograph

Vibrate higher, a rap story, Talib Kweli

Type

Label

Vibrate higher, a rap story, Talib Kweli

Language

eng

resource.biographical

autobiography

Index

no index present

Intended audience

Adult

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Vibrate higher

resource.references

Bklst 12/15/2020LJ 11/15/2018PW 11/29/2020Kirkus 11/15/2020

Responsibility statement

Talib Kweli

Sub title

a rap story

Summary

"Before Talib Kweli became a world-renowned hip-hop artist, he was a Brooklyn kid who liked to cut class, spit rhymes, and wander the streets of Greenwich Village with a motley crew of artists, rappers, and DJs who found hip-hop more inspiring than their textbooks (much to the chagrin of the educator parents who had given their son an Afrocentric name in hope of securing for him a more traditional sense of pride and purpose). Kwelis was the first generation to grow up with hip-hop as established culturea genre of music that has expanded to include its own pantheon of heroes, rich history and politics, and distinct worldview. Eventually, childhood friendships turned into collaborations, and Kweli gained notoriety as a rapper in his own right. From collaborating with some of hip-hops greatestincluding Mos Def, Common, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Kendrick Lamarto selling books out of the oldest African-American bookstore in Brooklyn, ultimately leaving his record label, and taking control of his own recording career, Kweli tells the winding, always compelling story of the people and events that shaped his own life as well as the culture of hip-hop that informs American culture at large. Vibrate Higher illuminates Talib Kwelis upbringing and artistic success, but so too does it give life to hip-hop as a political forceone that galvanized the Movement for Black Lives and serves a continual channel for resistance against the rising tide of white nationalism."--book jacket

Table Of Contents

Stakes is high -- Growing up Greene -- Gifted and talented -- The poetry of practicality -- The word became flesh -- The cipher -- Village people -- God lives thru -- The nigga ya love to hate -- The salad days -- Friends with rappers -- The best is yet to come -- 1995 -- The peaceful warrior -- Black star keep shining -- The eighth light -- The joy -- The Bizness -- Reflections of our ancestors -- Spitkickers -- The strange land -- Wake up, Mr. West! -- Family. Matters. -- Blacksmith Music -- Shadows of tomorrow -- Independent's Day -- Knowledge of wealth -- Dillagence -- Twitter fingers -- Defenders of the dream -- My president is black -- Trump's Amerikkka -- The story of mama -- The beginning

Classification