Talib Kweli (born Talib Kweli Greene in Brooklyn, New York City on October 3, 1975) is an American MC from Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the best-known rappers in alternative hip hop, and is frequently critically acclaimed, despite not having seen significant commercial success. His name in Arabic means "student", his last name in Swahili means "true". Talib and fellow rapper artist Mos Def purchased Nkiru, which is Brooklyn's oldest black-owned bookstore, and converted it into the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture. He also studied experimental theater at New York University (NYU). Kweli's mother is an English professor and his father a sociology professor. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse, and soon began recording with rapper Mos Def, whom he had met in high school, and producer Hi-Tek. Kweli and Def soon formed a group called Black Star. His debut was in 97 with a group for Cincinnati,Ohio...This information was automatically generated from Freebase article Talib Kweli. You should replace/update it...