Talib Kweli & Rick Ross – Heads Up Eyes Open

Talib Kweli taps Rick Ross for his socially-conscious new single.

Anyone who follows Talib Kweli on Twitter knows that the Black Star emcee is pretty much the wokest rapper alive. In fact, dude probably hasn’t slept in at least a fortnight, instead using his time to serve some online ass-whoopings to keyboard racists and white supremacists. And while Talib has seemingly been more active in the social-justice game than the music one, the rapper has been low-key busy this year. Earlier, he dropped the underrated collaborative project The Seven, with fellow rap veteran Styles P, which tackled some of today’s major ongoing social issues. Now, Kweli is back with another soulful gem, and he brought out the boss himself, Rick Ross, to prove some points.

Talib has always had a reputation as a lyrical beast, and when it comes to stringing together a sentence, it would appear the rapper hasn’t lost a step. He revisits themes he first began to touch on in the Kanye West produced classic “Get By,” examining the potentially thin line between patriotism and brutality. “Violent man will stock up on weapons and go to war for his, get post traumatic stress disorder, become an officer,” raps Kweli, before diving into the second part of his dichotomy. “A man of peace uses his words in different mediums, he’ll bleed for his beliefs, practicing civil disobedience.” Perhaps Kweli is alluding to the protesters that often take to the streets to combat some of the issues he has so adamantly championed against.

There’s not much more to say about Rick Ross, and you already know that the boss often delivers over these soulful instrumentals. This joint is no exception, and Ross makes his childhood struggles sound like ancient lore with some powerful storytelling prowess. Check out the track in full, and keep an eye out for Talib’s upcoming project Radio Silence, coming soon.