Nah Right

_{On meeting Kanye}

Kweli recalled stories dating from his teenage years to the more immediate past. He discussed how coming from an academic family where both his parents were professors influenced both him personally and his content musically. He then looked back on the days before he broke onto the rap scene, when he was working in clubs, and remembered smoking a blunt with Biggie and Tupac and being in a cypher with Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Busta Rhymes at the club.

Stories about the two groups he has been involved with—Reflection Eternal with Hi-Tek and Black Star with Mos Def—also surfaced. He called “Respiration” “probably one of my favorite records I’ve ever done,” named Mos as one of his closest friends (“our mothers hang out,” he said), and spoke on working with J. Dilla and the influence that Slum Village had on his style. Other topics that came up during the hour-and-a-half talk included his days with Rawkus Records, his early experiences with Common and Kanye West, his relationship with John Forte and Jay-Z, and more.

Noisemakers, which was on hiatus over the summer, is set to return as a bimonthly series this fall. Past guests have included DJ Premier, Raekwon, Q-Tip and ?uestlove. Reflection Eternal’s next album, Revolutions Per Minute, is slated for release later in 2009. -XXL

Talib speaks on Jay-Z cosign and recalls his favorite Kanye tour stories after the jump.

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