Talib Kweli at Chicago's City Winery on June 2, 2016

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli’s Exclusive Show at City Winery

by Sommer Thornton
Saturday, June 2: Talib Kweli gave an intimate performance at City Winery in Chicago’s River West neighborhood with a bottle of red and two turntables and a microphone.
With City Winery’s posh contemporary rustic setting as a backdrop;  the 100+ attendees all well-dressed and bright eyed, and the wine and hor d’oeuvres flowing, Kweli performed smooth and raucous hits with his unique narratives.
“I’m a drunk James Brown,” Kweli jokes, speaking on hate he gets on social media from racists and white rappers ‘trolling’ him.

The Blackstar native performed hits like Hot Thang, Never Been in Love Before and other hip-hop hits that had the crowd on their feet.

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli

Then a raptress named K. Valentine, a Chicago native jumped on stage in a sexy tracksuit with a weavalicious ponytail. K. Valentine ripped the mic to the instrumental of Paid in Full and to Nicki Minaj’s controversial hit, Chiraq with her version proclaiming “anti-chiraq.”
Talib Kweli gave a fantastic show, short-and-sweet, flowing Capella at times. I would love to hear him live for a steppers’ set in Chicago. Kweli’s succinct boisterous masterful lyrics and smooth versatile flow would sound great over a stepper beat.