JAY Z once wrote of his fellow Brooklyn MC, “If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be lyrically Talib Kweli”. But Kweli has forged an impressive career on his own terms, pushing conscious rap further into the mainstream with uplifting anthems like the Kanye West-produced 2002 hit “Get By”. He made his name with two duos, teaming with Mos Def as Black Star and producer DJ Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal. And as a solo star, he's continued to mix romantic odes (“Hot Thing”) with the dense rhymes and socially conscious subject matter for which he's known (“The Manifesto”).