In news sure to electrify hip-hop fans and music lovers Australia-wide, Illusive Entertainment & Frontier Touring are thrilled to announce that Talib Kweli and Scribe will be hitting our shores in October to co-headline shows in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane.
This amazing rap/hip-hop pair will be performing material from their respective new albums, with both Talib Kweli and Scribe each having ascended the lofty heights of solo success.
Talib Kweli has become a solo hit since his days in Black Star with Mos Def in the late 1990s. He was even named by Jay-Z and 50 Cent as one of their favourite rappers – high accolades for the Brooklyn native. Kweli firmly established himself as a tour de force in the world of rap music with his debut album Reflection Eternal in 2000, and has since become both a critically acclaimed artist and music industry stalwart, establishing his own record label Blacksmith Music.
Kweli’s socially-conscious style of rap has earned critical praise, with Rolling Stone claiming that he “earns the respect he gets”, and that “on his own… he shone far brighter than anyone expected”. Filter Magazine likewise proclaimed that “Talib’s magic has always been presenting his socially conscious message in a flow that makes you say “Word!” instead of “What?””
Kweli’s last album, The Beautiful Struggle, contained the popular collaboration I Try, with Mary J. Blige, and showcased his star-pulling power and collaborative skills, featuring production from the likes of Kanye West and The Neptunes.
The new album, Ear Drum, again highlights Kweli’s serious rap-style, a real alternative to the gangsta rap genre. Fans of Kweli’s unique, brash, attitude-adjusting style will relish the opportunity to see this rap visionary in the flesh, performing pounding tracks from his new album Ear Drum.
Scribe has likewise enjoyed immense success since he shot to stardom with the release of his debut album The Crusader in 2003. The Crusader spawned a steady stream of hits such as Not Many, Stand Up and Dreaming, and spent over 75 weeks in the ARIA Top 40 charts. The tidal wave of Scribe’s popularity resulted in him being voted Australia’s second favourite rapper, losing out narrowly to Eminem, by Rolling Stone readers.
A veteran of music festivals such as Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass and the Falls Festival, Scribe’s energetic, crowd-pleasing, roof-raising style will be familiar to Australian audiences. 3D World declared “Scribe certainly has a stage presence and is one artist that is able to straddle the ground between the underground and the commercial ease”!
Scribe has previously performed with artists such as the Beastie Boys and Lupe Fiasco on their Australian tours, so stepping up to co-headline with Talib Kweli will be no sweat for this seasoned performer. According to Fasterlouder.com.au, at Lupe Fiasco’s gig at the Metro Sydney, “Anyone who had just walked into the venue would have thought that [Scribe] was the main act on the bill by the way the punters reacted… Scribe was the perfect hype act!”
Fans will get to see long-anticipated new material from Scribe’s forthcoming sophomore album, Rhymebook, as well as outstanding tracks like Not Many, which went gold in Australia and quadruple-platinum in New Zealand.
Supporting these two amazing artists will be experimental hip-hop duo DJ Zeph & Azeem. Straight out of San Francisco, this duo have been steadily building a reputation as one of the most underrated hip-hop outfits in the US, and are currently gaining radio airplay in Australia on Triple J. Described as an infusion between “the sound of retro funk, blazing percussion, dub penetration, soul, dance hall and of course slamming hip hop” (M8), Zeph & Azeem are sure to convert a new legion of fans across the nation.
Tickets on sale 9am Thursday 6 September
