BPL and Center for Black Literature presents Talib Kweli and Akiba Solomon
Renowned hip-hop artist and activist Talib Kweli discusses his book Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story (MCD, 2021) with Akiba Solomon, senior editor, The Marshall Project.
Vibrate Higher is a memoir and a collection of essays that illuminates Kweli’s upbringing and artistic success. It also gives life to hip hop as a political force—one that galvanized the Movement for Black Lives, and serves a continual channel for resistance against the rising tide of white nationalism.
Talib Kweli is one of the most lyrically gifted, socially aware and politically insightful rappers to emerge in the last 20 years. Whether working with Mos Def as one-half of Black Star, partnering with producer Hi-Tek for Reflection Eternal, releasing landmark solo material or collaborating with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Just Blaze, J Dilla, or Madlib, Kweli commands attention by delivering top-tier lyricism, crafting captivating stories and showing the ability to rhyme over virtually any type of instrumental.
Akiba Solomon is a senior editor at The Marshall Project. She is an NABJ-Award winning journalist from West Philadelphia. The Howard University graduate has served as senior editorial director at Colorlines and has written about culture and the intersection between gender and race for Dissent, Essence, Glamour, and POZ. Solomon recently co-authored “How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance” (Bold Type Books, March 2019).
To purchase a copy of Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story, click here.
Presented as part of the John Oliver Killens Virtual Reading Series
This program is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
