Just To Get By

Well, that’s another trip around the sun for me. Today is the 7th anniversary of my 29th birthday, and I am beyond happy with the show I chose to ring it in with on Saturday night. There were a lot of choices to make, but I wanted to spend my night at the intimate and gorgeous Dakota in downtown Minneapolis with Talib Kweli, and it was absolutely the right choice.

After a delicious snack of the freshest focaccia and spicy little peppers drenched in cheese (it was a lot fancier and better than I’m making it sound, I promise), Talib Kweli took the stage. There was really no pomp and circumstance to his taking the stage other than his amazing trio of musicians tuning up and warming up, but something in the air shifted as the larger-than-life figure took the stage. Talib instantly commanded the packed audience, but in a way that screamed admiration rather than intimidation. Before even introducing himself, he jumped into his set that would take us through eras and styles of music.

Talib is absolutely a legend. From his work with Yaslin Bey (fka Mos Def) and the creation of Black Star to his collaborations with everything from Kanye West to Pharrell Williams, Talib is a name you may not know, but you know his influence. His style has a distinct and flawless flow. It’s rap, but it’s conscious rap where he talks about real issues that have plagued society over the years. It’s the kind of rap that makes even the most anti-rap person fall in love because, at the end of the day, it’s music with a message, and that message is one that anyone with a brain can get behind.

The conscious side of Talib’s rapping really came through as, towards the end of the set, he took some time to address the audience directly. He talked about what’s going on and how it’s all pretty messed up, but at the end of the day, it’s what people voted for. He talked about the poison that is white privilege in a way that both drove the point home, but also offered solutions. Although it was a speech that had been done time and time again, there was something different about the words that Talib was saying. He was clearly amped up, but also wanted to make sure not to get too emotional, as it was clear he really wanted his words to hit. It’s safe to say that they did, as everyone walked away from this show questioning what they can do to change the harsh reality that we live in.

All that being said, and even with as serious as this moment was, overall, the nearly ninety-minute set wasn’t all political action and political talk; the set was full of danceable moments and funny little statements that had the packed audience laughing out loud. To me, Talib has always been a larger-than-life kind of figure. He’s a juggernaut that just didn’t seem to ever get the respect or sense of notoriety that he deserved, so seeing him get personal and down and dirty with the audience was absolutely the highlight of the night for me. From calling audibles on his band when it came to the set, seemingly trying to catch them off guard with calling out songs that they may have not even rehearsed before (including a quick moment when the entire band started playing “Hot in Herre” by Nelly), to joking about everything from Nelly to the fact that, although at a jazz club, this was a rap show and we could all act accordingly, there was just something so perfectly informal and intimate about the set.

Another thing that I absolutely loved about this show was the band. It was a band made up of just three members and, for a few songs, one additional emcee by the name of NIKO IS (a Brazilian-American hip-hop artist signed to Talbi’s Javotti Media), but they were far from the background of this show. Talib showed such a level of respect to his band by often popping back stage or at least going to the corner of the stage, as if allowing the band to steal the spotlight from time to time. This didn’t need to be done as the sheer talent of the players behind Talib and fellow rapper NIKO IS was apparent and stood their own as far as stealing the spotlight, but just the respect that Talib showed was something that really got me all up in my feelings.

Talib Kweli had a lot to say throughout his set, both when addressing the crowd and when performing songs, but my favorite quote of the night was, “Challenge yourself to be exceptional instead of normal.” That statement is not only a beautiful one, but I feel like it captured the overall feeling of Saturday night at the Dakota perfectly.