Talib Kweli: brother in law's Rib Shack, western addition, 'Frisco.

Chilling with Talib Kweli and Angel Biotek, aka Mrs Woods. She is taking the flics this afternoon as Mr Woods is still marooned in Cancun on the Gold Wheels tour. It's a beautiful, sunny, spring afternoon here in the hood and there are hella honeys running around all over the place looking fly--back to business. In between finishing up his new underground mix tape in the recording studio and rushing off to do soundcheck for tonight's DNA Lounge show, we find a minute to child and do an exclusive interview with BK's own Mr Kwelity. With a new Blackstar album in the works for release sometime this year and a new solo joint about to drop with Jay Dilla, Bilal, Black Thought Common, and Faith Evans, things are looking lovely, just lovely maaan. Like this 'Frisco afternoon, it's a beautiful thing. --Aki X

Peace, man. How you doing?

Good, you know.

Who do you plan on working with out h re in the Bay Area?

Myself.

What project are you working on?

I am working on an underground mix tape at I am about to put out and sell on my tour.

Is there a new Talib album in the works

Yeah, my new Talib Kweli album is just about done. Most of the tracks are mixed.

What's the album going to be called?

Kwelity.

Who is working on that album?

Producing is Jay Dilla, Dave West, Kanye West, DJ Quik, DJ Scratch, Ayatollah. Those are the majority of the producers. Plus I got Black Thought, Pharaoh Monche, Bilal, Mos Def, Common, and my man Novel who just signed to Rawkus.

And you have a new Blackstar album coming out this year, right?

Hopefully we will get it out this year. We've been working hard on it. We're trying to get it out as soon as possible.

Who is working on that with you besides Mos Def?

So far just me and Mos. Dave West and Kanye West are also working on it.

There are a lot of dope soul singers out there right now like Alicia Keys, Mary J Bilge, Angie Stone, Jill Scott, Jaguar Wright. Are you planning to work with any of the sisters on your new albums?

I got Faith Evans on my new album and of course Vinia Mohica, and I got my girls the Shock Body Rockers who tour with me. I work with those people who are around me. My homegirl Lise, she's on my new album.

Are there any Bay Area rappers you would like to work with?

Blackalicious are gonna join my tour, and one of my good friends is Planet Asia He's just gonna do his thing.

Everyone in the industry has bands now: Outkast, Roots, Erykah Badu, Slum Village, Mos Def, Common, BEP. How do you think live bands are changing hip hop?

You know hip hop, it can't be held back. It can't be limited and a live band is just the way to expand the sound. I don't need a live band at this point--I'm still rockin' it with my singers and my DJ. At some point I am going to want to do a live band and expand on the music, but right now I'm still with the microphone and the DJ.

Are you part of the Five Percent Nation or the African Internationalists?

I am not part of any organization. I just got myself and I do it like that.

Black Thought and the Roots crew are doing Coke commercials. Dead Prez are chilling as rebel celebrities on MTV. Is there a danger that conscious reality rappers are going to be compromised by doing corporate commercials and MTV lifestyle blurbs?

No, do you think Dead Prez should be on MTV?

Only if they say what they want and it's not censored,

If you know Dead Prez, that's the only way it's gonna be. Every time I see Dead Prez on MTV I flicking cheer. As far as Black Thought doing Coke commercials, Black Thought is an MC who keeps true to the craft and represents other MCs in the hip hop industry very well. Black Thought also has a seed, and as real as he keeps it, he got to do whatever he can to take care of himself. And any exposure for him raises his profile and raises his stake in the game.

America is going through fanatical patriotism. We have armed security profiling all non-whites at airports, borders etc. How does Talib Kweli fit into this current trend of star spangled nationalism?

That don't change nothing about what I say or do. A lot of people were patriotic when that shit first happened, and now they have rights taken away from them. For instance, me and my whole crew--no matter where we travel, and I'm talking about two women and three dudes--when we travel on an airplane they search my whole crew. They say they're random checks but why are they always searching us? That's a patriotic thing, they have those rights. Those rights are suspended as of now. People get caught up in the fever but they don't really examine why. People have got to understand the world-the world, not just' America, is in a state of siege right now. Ask what role in the world America has to play right now, not why terrorism inconveniences us. A lot of our free speech and individual civil rights have been lost since September 11th.