As Kanye West detailed on “Last Call,” Talib Kweli was one of Kanye’s first supporters as a rapper. The two went on to tour together and work on each others albums all throughout the mid-2000s curating gems like “Get By,” “Get ‘Em High” and “Guerrilla Monsoon Rap.”
But how did the first two meet? Well, Kweli recently dropped by an episode of N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s Drink Champs podcast, where he detailed the story.
It started out when Kweli was working on his Quality album back in 2001. Mos Def was supposed to drop by a studio session to record his verse for “Joy.” But with rappers being rappers, Mos hadn’t showed up when he was supposed to, but Kanye West did, because Mos Def told him to meet him at Kweli’s studio session. After Kanye listed off a couple producers who he’d worked for, Kweli asked ‘Ye to play him a couple beats. Kweli said all four beats Kanye played made Kweli’s album. (Although, Kanye only had three beats make the cut — “Get By,” “Guerrilla Monsoon Rap” and “Good To You.”)
Kweli briefly got into his and Kanye’s relationship in the first couple months, saying Kanye played him “Jesus Walks” (naturally) and “Hey Mama” within the first month of meeting him and detailed his plans for his first two albums.
Listen to the story below.
