Posted by:

Escobar Caesar

| 06:54 PM ET  11.16 | We sell, crack to our own out the back of our homes We smell the musk at the dusk in the crack of the dawn We go through "Epidodes II," like "Attack of the Clones" Work 'til we break our back and you hear the crack of the bone To get by.. just to get by Just to get by, just to get by We commute to computers Spirits stay mute while you eagles spread rumors We survivalists, turned to consumers To get by.. just to get by Just to get by, just to get by Ask Him why some people got to live in a trailer, cuss like a sailor I paint a picture with the pen like Norman Mailer Me and Willa raised three daughters all by herself, with no help I think about a struggle and I find the strength in myself These words, melt in my mouth They hot, like the jail cell in the South Before my **** Core bailed me out To get by.. just to get by Just to get by, just to get by We do or die like Bed-Stuy through the red sky with the window of the red eye Let the lead fly, some G. Rap ****, "Livin' to Let Die" Those are the opening bars of "Get By", one of the best songs written by one of the best rappers ever, Talib Kweli, the Great BK Emcee. I chose Talib to do the first Hip Hop Spotlight on, over people like NaS (capital S for the Greatest Hits CD about to drop), Ludacris, KRS-ONE, or Fat Joe because in my opinion, Talib is the most underrated rapper of all time. Talib Kweli was born October 3, 1975.... Blah, blah blah. We don't care about that do we? Let's skip ahead to the Black Star years. Black Star is the best group ever. Well can't say that or else angry Wu-Tang and N.W.A. fans might lynch me. Don't want that. ONE of the best groups ever. Talib Kweli and Mos Def both hail from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, home of other legendary rappers such as Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes and GZA. Black Star rose from the underground in 1998 with their first album, Mos Def and Talib Kweli Present: Black Star. This album featured songs such as Brown Skinned Lady, Theives in the Night, Definition and Respiration. It was given 5 stars by All Music Guide, and three and a half by The Source. Hailed as one of the 2 best CDs by me, Black Star is one of the classic CDs ever made. Black Star (the group) has not yet made a new CD, and have left true hip hop heads clamoring for more. Talib Kweli has said that another album is going to drop in 2008, 10 years after the first. Talib released a solo album in 2002, entitled Quality. Quality featured the song Get By, which I quote above. The album was Talib's best selling, and was given a 4 star rating by Rolling Stone. His latest CD, Eardrum featured the songs In The Mood, Hot Thing, and Listen!!! and has sold about 200,000 so far. In this sorry age of hip hop where Soulja Boy is the most recognized name, Talib Kweli is a real bright spot.