"If skills sold.... I'd probably be Talib kweli"

[Pool_Shark]

I have trouble making sense of that line.

Is he saying without the hype and attention as just an MC Jay is Talib Kweli status? Cause jigga at his best lyrically is miles ahead of kweli

Or his he saying that if skills sold him and Talib would trade places.

 

[Danie84]

Kweli is a great lyricsit, it's just his voice gets in the way of all that wordplay

 

[L. Deezy]

I have trouble making sense of that line.

Is he saying without the hype and attention as just an MC Jay is Talib Kweli status? Cause jigga at his best lyrically is miles ahead of kweli

Or his he saying that if skills sold him and Talib would trade places.

lol.. he just bigging up a rapper who all about the skills and the art who hasnt sold that well doing so.

 

[Absolut da poet ®]

Mos def blessed that dude with a career imo

 

[OGmittee]

lol jay-z can tell his fans another dude is better lyrically and they still gonna say something else...

 

[Izanami]

Mos def blessed that dude with a career imo

Talib has had better solo career than most def. Dude is heavily involved in his music while Mos desire to rap and put out albums can be questioned. In terms of discography Talib has one of the best out of any current rapper.

 

[boskey]

lol jay-z can tell his fans another dude is better lyrically and they still gonna say something else...

lol word. Like its hieroglyphics "but what did he really mean"

He told you exactly what it meant: "If skills sold lyrically I would be Talib Kweli" "truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense"

If he could make money keeping it "real hip hop" he would do that. But he can't so he makes pop music...

"But I can't help the poor if I'm one of them"

Spoiler

 

[NSSVO]

Arrogance. He saying if he wanted to he can rap like all the underground top talent.

 

[NvrCMyNut]

I don't know dude was too nice when he was on his deen.

Hi-teknology 2 is still one of my favorite producer albums, shyt is better than any solo Kweli album not named Quality imo, nearly on the same level as Quality.

Hi-Tek So Tired - YouTube
Hi Tek - Music For Life - YouTube

 

[MustafaSTL]

I dunno where this myth came from. He tries to fit too many words in his rhymes, he's wack

"Just cuz he wears a kufi doesn't mean that he's bright!"

Every post you make about every single topic is horrific. Got damn.

 

[nalej]

Cause Talib had a run back then. That first album that dropped was dope.

 

[JoelB]

@ that line needing to be explained.

I need more than 3 negs a day

 

[Existential]

He's saying it like, "If things were reversed and skills were profitable, then Talib Kweli would sell as much as me/I would have to rap at Talib Kweli's level to sell this much."

I don't find Talib Kweli that enjoyable, he's one of the most boring conscious rappers for some reason. He's not entertaining, he lacks something distinctive, he somehow comes across as generic and bland. He's mediocre to me, just barely decent enough to not be completely wack, but not enough to continue listening to.

 

[OnlyInCalifornia]

I don't think anyone knows the meaning of that whole quote, someone needs to ask Jay about it.

Does it mean that if what lyrical skills? Technical skills? sold and not grind & hits he'd be living in a small apartment like Kweli? One of Jays most obscure lines.

Or I ain't been rhyming since Common Since line too, the fukk does that mean? That he was rhyming like Common on Vol. 2 but wack rhyming on BP and TBA?


I see as nothing but dope rhyming and punchlines.

Or maybe he said 'talib kweli' because it rhymes with 'lyrically' which starts off the bar....

No Ronnie but I think you guys might be over thinking it a bit too much.

 

[Harry B]

@ that line needing to be explained.

I need more than 3 negs a day

Not explained, it just doesn't make sense and can be interpreted in many ways.
His actions and words are not in aligned. That's why I see the Kweli and Common lines are dope punchlines more than a quotable that makes sense. But that's just me.


Jay-z rhyming like Common Sense




Jay-z not rhyming like Common Sense






Now the lines previous to those lines about Dumbing down and people yelling Holla makes sense, even though that would probably be with Reasonable Doubt when he dumped his fast rapping underground style and released Ain't no nikka. Which if we're talking trill talk, everyone in the rap game with a platinum plaque has done some to a lesser extent, others not. Whether it makes the music better or not is another question as well. Most people would say that Jays gangster songs like So Ghetto and club bangers like Big Pimpin are some of the best songs of that era. Even though they're dumbed down subject wise.