Any rapper worth his salt will use the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival as the perfect fertile ground for which to plant his budding success into. But, what if you’re already established as one of the best MCs in the game?
Then you use SXSW as just another MC’s playground for you and your superhero crew of rap friends.
Predictions rolled in pre-SXSW around the AllHipHop offices as to which Hip-Hop artist would get the most bang for his buck at the festival. There were calls for Big K.R.I.T. as the man to bring his sturdy work ethic, along with A$AP Rocky, and a few others.
Still, it was Talib Kweli who would prove the hardest-working man at SXSW 2012, performing across so many stages on last Saturday alone, one would think his hustle is brand new. He even found time to float through and show his face at a few of the other big showcases of the week – like the AllHipHop/Vibe House Breeding Ground Showcase. Perhaps that is his genius; the Blacksmith head honcho was skillful at bringing his wordy intelligence to a new crop of fans and listeners in Austin, Texas – just the kind of thing you might be into if you’ve spread the gospel for as long as Kweli has.
Watch the video below as the “Gutter Rainbows” rapper invites friends Bun B, Jean Grae, Pharoahe Monch, 9th Wonder, and Mela Machinko onstage to help him rock the house – or, in SXSW fashion – the parking lot roof:
Follow Talib Kweli and his trans-world adventures on Twitter (@TalibKweli).