Mos Def, Talib, KRS One + more-- a night in Brooklyn of spliffs and stars

The other night I got an invite from a friend to see Talib Kweli at The Knitting Factory- this dope little concert venue snuggled away in Brooklyn. Normally in the winter there is no way to get me out of my house if I didn't wrap my mind around the concept of bracing the cold for hours before hand, but I've recently been on a raw hip hop rampage-- and Kweli has been on repeat.


What my friend failed to include, was that along with Talib, the night would also feature old school hip hop heads, including rap pioneer- KRS One, Mos Def, Jay Electronica, A Tribe Called Quest, Greg Nice, and Dres from Black Sheep. (Don't you just love unexpected surprises?)

To be honest, you didn't even need to be a hip-hop head to enjoy this line-up, although 90 percent of the audience were mostly white hip-hop connoisseurs who voiced each lyric to every rapper who touched the stage. The highlight of the night was KRS One's eight minute freestyle about the metaphysical and reality form of the human body. He's an actual lyrical genious and has released a 600 page hip-hop bible for rap religion, I kid you not. It's called The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument, check it out.


KRS One @ The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Talib @ The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Mos Def @ The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10
Jay Electronica and Mos Def share the stage at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Dres from Black Sheep at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Greg Nice at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

KRS-One performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

KRS-One performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Q-Tip at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Talib performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Jay Electronic performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Greg Nice and crowd performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10

Talib performing at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 1-20-10