Another day, another story about someone’s first encounter with Kanye West.
This week, former rapper Jensen Karp recounted that a young West was laughed out of the building after playing an early version of “Jesus Walks” for producers. But on the N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN podcast Drink Champs last Friday, Talib Kweli recalled having a different impression when meeting the then-unsigned rapper years ago.
“I’ve never heard nothing so beautiful in my life,” Kweli remembers about tracks like “Jesus Walks” and “Hey Mama.”
The encounter took place “four or five years” before College Dropout (so, circa-2000), when Kanye stopped by Platinum Island Studios looking for Mos Def. At the time, Kweli was working with Mos Def on his Quality album.
“Kanye comes through the [studio] door. I’ve never seen this n*****, I’ve never heard this n*****. He said, ‘I’m here to meet Mos Def.’ I said, ‘well, guess what? He might not show up,’” Kweli remembers, laughing. “Kanye played me the beats. Every beat that Kanye played me—he played me four beats that night—all them beats made it to my album.”
Maybe it was this early success, N.O.R.E. jokes, that gave Yeezus his legendary ego: “That’s why he got an ego, because n***** came in, he pitched four, you bought four […] From now on, every time Kanye do anything fucked up, we blamin’ Talib!”
But Kweli didn’t hold back on the compliments. “I can’t believe how good these beats was, because I had never heard of him,” Kweli remembers. “I was like, how have I never heard of you and your beats are this quality?”
The interview also sheds some light on ‘Ye’s early visions for College Dropout and Late Registration, which—in classic Kanye fashion—were mapped out meticulously from day one.
Stream a clip from the interview above, and listen to the full version here.
