Vibrate Higher

A Rap Story

By: Talib Kweli

Narrated by: Talib Kweli

This program is read by the author.

From one of the most lyrically gifted, socially conscious rappers of the past twenty years, Vibrate Higher is a firsthand account of hip-hop as a political force

Before Talib Kweli became a world-renowned hip hop artist, he was a Brooklyn kid who liked to cut class, spit rhymes, and wander the streets of Greenwich Village with a motley crew of artists, rappers, and DJs who found hip hop more inspiring than their textbooks (much to the chagrin of the educator parents who had given their son an Afrocentric name in hope of securing for him a more traditional sense of pride and purpose). Kweli’s was the first generation to grow up with hip hop as established culture—a genre of music that has expanded to include its own pantheon of heroes, rich history and politics, and distinct worldview.

Eventually, childhood friendships turned into collaborations and Kweli gained notoriety as a rapper in his own right. From collaborating with some of hip hop’s greatest—including Mos Def, Common, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Kendrick Lamar—to selling books out of the oldest African-American bookstore in Brooklyn, and ultimately leaving his record label and taking control of his own recording career, Kweli tells the winding, always compelling story of the people and events that shaped his own life as well as the culture of hip hop which informs American culture at large.

Vibrate Higher illuminates Talib Kweli’s upbringing and artistic success, but so too does it give life to hip hop as a political force—one that galvanized the Movement for Black Lives, and serves a continual channel for resistance against the rising tide of white nationalism.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Excellent Read

Talib Kweli provides great wisdom and insight in this honest, heartfelt book. Excellent read would recommend for everyone!

Great book! Must read!

Such a great story and well written/read book! Kweli is one of the artist I’ve always looked up to and this book shows how great of a person he is

Loved most of it…

I really enjoyed most of this book but had a few gripes. The stories were great a lot of the time and very engaging. However, the structure of it made it very hard to follow and the last couple hours of the book spewed a lot of hatred. I was vibrating higher when the book began, but the end of it had me feeling down.

Some gold Hip-Hop history in here though, no doubt.

It’s up there…

As one of the best to grip the mic and rip an audible autobiography. Finished this in 3 days. Listened contently while hanging on to every story and every word. Thanks for sharing the realness.

Recommended for all. ✌️

Ladiee Huslaa

Clarity and Precision! Great conversation piece about history as well as the present, hope for the future. Amazingly correlated to the impacts of Hip-Hop on both sides to produce unity