Got Freestyle Fellowship's Project Blowed's own @myka9 on my new album. My new solo joint, it will be out next year. He texted me his verse. Holy fukk...
Black Star -- 2015 Tour Dates
OCT 22 2015 BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA EATONS HILL
OCT 24 2015 SYDNEY , AUSTRALIA THE DOMAIN
OCT 25 2015 MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA MYER MUSIC BOWL
OCT 26 2015 AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND WESTERN SPRINGS STADIUM
Talib Kweli Opens Up On How His New Project, Colours Of The Culture, Changed His Life
Colours of the Culture is a spiritually and artistically connected group of artists from around the world, a group of visionaries aligned for a common cause. The collective includes – but is not limited to – Talib Kweli, NIKO IS, Truly Def, Palmer Reed, K’Valentine, Chaz Van Queen, The Narcicyst, Seth Byrd, Paulina Vo, Henry Daher, Chris Smith, Gallardo, Krikos, YousTheJuice, and Thanks Joey. On October 13, the group will premiere their free first album, ROYGBIV: What a Colourful World, on Uproxx. The album will be accompanied by a 10-episode series of webisodes that will give you a window into Colours of the Culture. Below, you can read Talib Kweli explain how Colours of the Culture came to be, as well as watch the first episode of the series. Come back each week for future episodes, and to get the first listen of ROYGBIV: What a Colourful World.
The last thing I wanted my son Amani Fela to be was a rapper. As much as I loved rap life and excelled at living it, I also knew how hard it was for me to navigate through a business based on a one-in-a-million shot. As a parent, I wanted something more stable than the artist lifestyle for my child. I didn’t want him making the same mistakes I made at his age. So when my son started to allow music to take over his life at the same age I allowed it to take over mine, 16 years old, I was a bit nervous. Sure, I made it as an artist, but what if he didn’t? Would he have the tools to make a living for himself if music didn’t work out?
Like my parents before me, I beat my son in the head about going to college. I stressed the importance of education, but I also knew that any education I was paying for would have to be practical. Because of Amani’s focus on music, in his senior year, I took him on a trip to visit Orlando’s Full Sail University, a college with a great reputation for churning out students who get jobs in the music and film industries. Amani loved the idea of Full Sail, and that September, he was enrolled there, living in a dormitory far away from his friends and family in Brooklyn. In order to help make his transition smooth, I found myself visiting Amani often during those first few months. One Monday night after spending the day at Full Sail, I decided to go check out the local night club scene, and found a spot playing hip-hop. As soon as I stepped up to the bar to order a drink, I was greeted by a young, tatted-up Brazilian dude named Triska, who explained that he promoted the party I was at, was a huge fan, and was shocked to see me in an Orlando club for dolo. I told him about my son, we got a bottle of Jameson, and Triska made sure I was good for the rest of the night.
As I was leaving the club, Triska handed me a CD he thought I would enjoy – Chill Cosby, by his good friend NIKO IS, another Brazilian living in Orlando. NIKO IS was wearing a “Cosby” sweater on the cover, which I thought was hilarious, and the CD boasted an appearance by Action Bronson, which was impressive for an Orlando artist I had never heard of. Triska mentioned that NIKO may want to work with me and would possibly pay me for a verse, so I gave him my info. Little did I know receiving that CD would open me up to an entirely new artistic experience.
I bumped Chill Cosby as soon as I got to the hotel, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I genuinely liked it. NIKO had a very unique voice and style, witty punchlines, and the songs felt good. The main producer of the tracks, Thanks Joey, was creating soundscapes that primarily revolved around Brazilian samples. On my next trip to Orlando, I made my way to NIKO and Joey’s studio, where I met their extended family and laid a verse for a song called “Carmen,” named after NIKO’s mom. We drank, we smoked, we broke bread, and we made beautiful music. By the end of the night, I felt like I was a part of this family. They called themselves Colours of the Culture.
Over the next few months, the Colours of the Culture crew would hold me down whenever I was in Orlando visiting Amani. An excellent MC himself, Amani began recording songs with Thanks Joey, songs that would be the best he had ever done up until that point. NIKO IS was beginning to build a buzz for himself, and wanted to partner up with my company, Javotti, for the official release of his next album, Brutus. At first, I didn’t want to get down with them on that level, because I would hate to sell dreams and make promises I could not deliver on. Javotti was then and still is a new endeavor for me, and while I have been successful at selling my own music, I couldn’t guarantee I would be successful selling someone else’s. However, the first time I heard NIKO IS freestyle, all reservations went out the window. Off the head, this kid was incredible. I had never heard anything like it. Throughout my 20-plus-year career, I have heard the best. NIKO IS was better. Not only did he freestyle for almost an hour-straight one night, he did it in his native Portuguese and in Spanish. This was a trilingual MC.
Soon enough, Javotti jumped in feet first and partnered with the Colours of the Culture team to release Brutus. Produced entirely by Thanks Joey, Brutus received stellar reviews and set the duo on a path around the world that would take them to Brazil over the summer, where they performed and recorded new music. I flew down to Brazil to kick it with them when they told me they wanted to release a Colours of the Culture album. Watching NIKO and Joey work is like poetry in motion, and that vibe is ever present around the whole crew. The Colours of the Culture family extends far beyond Orlando, and doing an album that represents the whole crew would be a great way to add on to the musical legacy NIKO and Joey were building.
Over the year that we spent building NIKO IS, I learned that Colours of the Culture as a crew was a lot more prolific than I realized. True to their name, this crew was full of colorful characters from all over the world who added to the culture in multiple ways. NIKO and Joey spent many nights at Javotti headquarters in Brooklyn, and everyone who visited them brought great vibes; hanging out with them was a nonstop stream of creative energy. At any given time of the day, Joey would be in the living room cutting vocals with Paulina Vo, a Vietnamese singer/songwriter who lived around my way. Harlem renaissance man, musician, and educator Chaz Van Queen would stop by and lay bars with NIKO. Interestingly enough, Chaz befriended my son Amani years before I met him, and one day, while I was going through old tweets, I saw a tweet he sent me about loving a show of mine back in 2009 that I had saved, even though I didn’t know who he was. Then there was the time Joey found a book on my bookshelf given to me and signed by The Narcicyst, a talented Iraqi musician, professor, and journalist. Joey explained that Narcy was his homeboy, so that made me read the book, Diatribes of a Dying Tribe, which blew me away and made me want to write more. All of these creative people who I had the pleasure of meeting, and more, ended up on what would become the Colours of the Culture album ROYGBIV: What a Colourful World.
This is why I care about Colours of the Culture. But why should you? Imagine a group of the most inquisitive, adventurous, fun-loving, and intelligent people you’d ever want to meet. Add in huge doses of talent (everything is done in-house), ambition, and the passion to travel the world in search of new experiences. What you end up with is the beautiful sonic experience that is ROYGBIV: What a Colorful World. Colours of the Culture understands where art and culture connect. Colours of the Culture cares about you. Colours of the Culture cares about us.
NIKO recently appeared alongside Ab-Soul and myself on “The Venetian,” from my album fukk the Money. The Narcicyst, in addition to publishing the critically acclaimed book Diatribes of a Dying Tribe, also had his song “Hamdulillah” featured on the Furious 7 soundtrack. Both YousTheJuice and Thanks Joey have also contributed to my discography, hand-painting the cover art for my recently released album Train of Thought: Lost Lyrics, Rare Releases & Beautiful B-Sides and producing the song “Gratitude” from fukk the Money, respectively. Chaz Van Queen’s program Building Beats, which teaches production and DJ skills to kids in the New York City public school system, was recently profiled on NY1’s “NYer of the Week” series; and Brazilian-born Henry Daher is working on a project with Styles P from the legendary Lox. Individually, each member impacts the culture in a huge way. As a collective, Colours of the Culture can be unstoppable.
A year after I met Triska, I found out he would be doing some time in jail. I also found out that it was him who paid me to be on “Carmen.” Triska paid me with his own money, securing that deal before he even told NIKO, because that’s what a great friend he is. I don’t know if Triska understood what he was doing at the time, but by recognizing an opportunity in front of him, he set something very powerful into motion. We all make mistakes in life, and even though I tried to steer my son away from the mistakes I made, I had to sit back and realize that the mistakes I made are what made me the man I am today. The mistakes I made led me to being in that club with Triska that night. Now, I have a new family that walks in harmony with my existing family. Colours of the Culture is the crew. Respect it!
In addition to Indie 500, Kweli is re releasing a couple of his old albums.
Gravitas is getting a Blue/ White splatter vinyl reissue available 11.13.2015. There was a Blue version sold only at Kweliclub.com that sold out. There is also Black (common press) and White sold exclusively at Urban Outfitters. Talib Kweli - Gravitas (2xLP - Blue/White Splatter)
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