Black on Both Sides is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Mos Def, released on October 12, 1999, by Rawkus and Priority Records. Prior to its recording, Mos Def had collaborated with Talib Kweli for the album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star in 1998, which raised high expectations for a solo effort by the former. Black on Both Sides features an emphasis on live instrumentation and socially conscious lyrics.
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star is the debut studio album by Black Star, a hip hop duo consisting of emcees Talib Kweli and Mos Def. The album was released on September 29, 1998, to critical acclaim. The title is a reference to the Black Star Line, a shipping line founded by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey. The album deals with modern-day issues, philosophical ideas, and life in Brooklyn, New York City as the two artists know it.
Tony Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek, is an American rapper and record producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom Hi-Tek featured on his second album, Hi-Teknology 2.
Reflection Eternal is an American hip hop duo composed of emcee Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek. They released their first album, Train of Thought, in 2000. They have since released a mixtape, The RE: Union, in late December 2009, and their second album Revolutions Per Minute was released May 18, 2010.
Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial.
Quality is the debut studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on November 19, 2002, by Rawkus Records. It received wide critical acclaim and had some commercial appeal from the song "Get By", produced by Kanye West. Kludge magazine included it on their list of best albums of 2002.
The Coming is the debut studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released on March 26, 1996, by Elektra Records. The album contains contributions by Def Squad members Redman, Keith Murray, and Jamal, Q-Tip, Zhané, Leaders of the New School and several Flipmode Squad members. Production was handled by DJ Scratch, Easy Mo Bee and the Ummah, among others. It serves as Rhymes' first solo album after the break up of Leaders of the New School two years prior, and Rhymes' first full-length project after numerous guest appearances on other songs with artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, the Notorious B.I.G., Heavy D and the Boyz and Mary J. Blige.
The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American singer Mary J. Blige, released on December 20, 2005, by Geffen Records. Blige recorded the album with a host of songwriters and record producers, including 9th Wonder, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryan-Michael Cox, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson, Cool & Dre, Ron Fair, and will.i.am.
Black Star is an American hip hop duo formed in 1996, from Brooklyn, New York City. The duo is composed of rappers Mos Def and Talib Kweli. The duo is named after The Black Star Line, a shipping company founded by Marcus Garvey. Their critically-acclaimed debut album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star was released on September 29, 1998. After decades of only releasing singles and appearing on compilations, Black Star released their sophomore studio album No Fear of Time May 3, 2022 on the podcasting platform Luminary.
Kendra Ross is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music business executive, and community organizer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio.
Lyricist Lounge, Volume One is the second hip hop compilation album by American record label Rawkus Records. The double-disc was released on May 5, 1998 as the first installment of Lyricist Lounge album series, based on New York's Lyricist Lounge showcases.
Train of Thought is the debut album of American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, released October 17, 2000 on Rawkus Records. Collaborating as a duo, rapper Talib Kweli and DJ and hip hop producer Hi-Tek recorded the album during 1999 to 2000, following their individual musical work that gained notice in New York's underground scene during the late 1990s. Kweli had previously worked with rapper Mos Def as the duo Black Star, and Hi-Tek had served as producer on the duo's debut album.
Bulletproof is the third studio album by American rapper Hush from Detroit, Michigan. It was released on August 23, 2005, via Geffen Records. The album features guest appearances from Eminem, Kuniva, Bizarre and Swifty McVay from D12, Bareda and Lo-Down from Raw Collection, and guitarist Phil Campbell. The album debuted at number 83 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 39 on the Heatseekers Albums in the United States.
"Simply Beautiful" is a 1972 song by Al Green from his album I'm Still in Love with You.
Idle Warship was a musical duo composed of Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli and Philadelphia singer Res. Res has appeared on each Talib Kweli album since 2000's Train of Thought. They have also toured together, including on the summer 2005 MGD Flavor 2 Savor mini-tour. They released their debut mixtape, Party Robot, on October 27, 2009 for free. This was originally set for a 2008 release and announced on Talib Kweli's MySpace page in a New Year's blog entry.
Alonzo Mario Stevenson, professionally known as Novel, is an American hip-hop/soul artist based in Los Angeles, California. He is a Grammy Award winning songwriter, singer, rapper and producer with also 5 Grammy nominations. He is the son of Motown's William "Mickey" Stevenson and the grandson of soul pioneer Solomon Burke.
Revolutions per Minute is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, released May 18, 2010, on Blacksmith Records and Rawkus Records. Composed of rapper Talib Kweli and DJ/hip hop producer Hi-Tek, it is the duo's follow-up to their collaborative debut Train of Thought (2000).
Robert Alan Diaz known by his stage name Pumpkinhead or P.H., was an American rapper and hip hop artist. He grew up in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, New York with his mother and younger sister.
PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Pharoahe Monch, released on April 15, 2014 under his independent label, W.A.R. Media, in partnership with INgrooves. The album features guest appearances from Black Thought, Talib Kweli, Denaun, The Stepkids and Vernon Reid, as well as production from Lee Stone, Marco Polo, Jesse West and Quelle Chris amongst others. The album was promoted by two Lee Stone-produced singles: "Damage" and "Bad M.F.".
Talib Kweli Greene is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. His most recent album, Gotham, was released in 2020. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.
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