When the New York Jets met the Indianapolis Colts for one of the NFL’s wildcard playoff games, Hip Hop listeners and NFL fans might have been surprised to see Talib Kweli rapping alongside Nick Javas during a Pepsi advertisement. Kweli wrote a custom rhyme about the Jets, and joined the ranks of Drake, Jay Electronica, KRS-One and other Hip Hop artists who have rhymed for soft drink companies.
When HipHopDX posted Jay Electronica’s Mountain Dew advertisement, some readers took to the Comments section to call him a sellout. But Kweli says such talk is part of a misconception he’s been trying to fight for a long time. He faced similar criticsm after appearing on a song with Gucci Mane.
“There’s a segment of my fan base that wants to believe that I’m in some basement somewhere with a notebook, with a backpack on, writing rhymes to Eminem instrumentals or something,” Kweli recently told Billboard. “So the idea that at this point [is that] I’m 35 years old and there’s no music business, and I have grown man responsibilities, so of course I’m going to get paid for my craft. And I’m going to work with companies that are willing to support the lifestyle.”
The Jets/Colts wildcard game was televised January 8 and drew a 10.3 Nielsen rating. According to Bill Gorman of TVByTheNumbers.com, that translates to roughly 29 million viewers. With his Gutter Rainbows digital album slated to drop on January 25, the commercial served as paid advertising for Kweli to become more visible to those viewers before his album went on sale.
Kweli pointed out many of the people throwing around the “sellout” label don’t support music by legally purchasing it. He added, “You’ve got to maybe loosen your idea of what selling out is, when you’re not participating in supporting the culture.”
It seems like Talib Kweli has been fighting the notion of being an underground, backpack emcee since his days at Rawkus. The perception is such a sticking point that he tentatively named his next major label album, Prisoner of Consciousness. One emcee who would likely empathize is KRS-One, who drew criticism for commercials with Sprite and Nike during the 90’s. Like Kweli, KRS also shrugged off any notion of being called a sellout.
“I was building my character,” KRS told HipHopDX, when asked about his commercials during a 2009 interview. “It gave me an opportunity to argue my point of view, write articles and actually be a teacher. Believe it or not, this is what I warned other people about. If you don’t have a thick skin for this…You can go online right now and probably find a million people who will say, ‘Fuck KRS-One! He’s a goddamned idiot.’ You’ll probably find 2 million more who say, ‘I love KRS, and I want to have his baby,’ and those are dudes talking.”
I like the point Talib made about “selling out”, and how those who obtain music without paying for it can be considered “sellouts”. Thats why I buy physical albums and support the artists. One.
Yeah he didn’t sell out but fuck that why i’m gon cop an album when i can get it for free. I got better things to do with my money like a fat bag of weed from my man tony
“Yeah he didn’t sell out but fuck that why i’m gon cop an album when i can get it for free. I got better things to do with my money like a fat bag of weed from my man tony”
That’s exactly why just about everybody’s doing shit numbers. Stop being a cheapskate mother fucker and support music, asswipe. Better yet, spend that weed money on an education, help pass legislation that’ll get that shit legalized instead.
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He didn’t sell out, he bought in.
I agree with Talib 100%, he’s not being a sellout. And the ones who say he is are the ones who get music illegally. Go buy Gutter Rainbows, amazon has it for 7 bucks, we need this real hiphop to hit a million in the first week. It’s gotta be top 5 for albums this year. Talib is a genius. Go cop it if you dont believe me, and you’ll see. Unless you’re an ignorant middle school kid.
selling out doesnt exist in hip hop .. peeps were vexed at a tribe called quest for doing a sprite commercial,. who cares they got paid ,. let sprite ask your broke ass to do a commercial , for 6 figures??!! you gonna say no cause your friends say ur a sell out,. get real.
Maybe if you were supporting his music he wouldn’t have to spit bars for drink companies.
What about when Common did that commercial with Mya for Coke way back when?
Talibs on point like always.
talib is a sellout. excuses. excuses. excuses. he sold out just to get by.
him and his boy john forte. they both sell outs. and b.o.b., jay elec,hi-tek, and countless others in rap including jay z, nas, kanye, common, lupe, erykah badu, outkast, lil wayne and his boy wonder (you know who)…
obvious troll is obvious
who the fuck cares if he did a commercial? lets see you pussies say no to $$$. his music is good thats all that matters.
who cares,not a huge fan but i got respect and doing a pepsi commercial,song with gucci mane and no ones mentioned appearing on the chapelle show and block party along side Kanye and Common(which was years ago). Selling out would be him dumbing down his music,and looking at his latest solo material he hasnt.
Biggie did a rap for Pepsi too, are you gonna say he’s a big fake sell out too? It’s all about gettin’ money.
Biggie did a rap for Pepsi too, are you gonna say he’s a big fake sell out too? It’s all about getting money.
Yeah, the only way I’d call him a sellout is if he changed up his music all of a sudden just to get radio spins. If every beat had auto tune and 808 drum patterns, then I’d be calling him a sellout. Doing a commercial using the same craft that you love and honor isnt being a sellout. Kweli represents the craft well. No prob with me.
CASH GIFTING SENT ME $65,000 IN A BOX! See what I’m doin.I still
can’t believe it!
Get your money Kweli. The real heads support you
Exactly. Ppl talking that sell out mess probly live at home with Moms!
ITS MONEY NO ONE CARES
I’m a latino who likes rap music more than anything in this world. My english is not perfect, but I’ll try to do my best. I can’t understand why not body in USA didn’t notice the fact that artist like Lupe, Krs, Nas,Talib, are only slaves of the corporations and a disgrace for the afroamerican people, who had the urgency to know real leaders, real writters and real artist. Is crazy hear this puppets talk about economics problems, ignorance and modern slavery when at the same time they are supporting one of the biggest problems, USA’s foreign politics and corporations.It looks like they’ve got lost in time, they mentality kept in the 60’s, and they still think that Obama is a great president, is really crazy.
It’s make me sad, see all this legends in the same level of lil’ Wayne or Souljah boy, why people dont wake up???
I thing since the day hip-hop became corporations biggest tool, that’s was the day when hip-hop dies.
I dont want to disrespect nobody, I just want to give my opinion and my point of view.
Thanks to those who understand what I’m trying to say. Also is sad to see all of the people saying “go get your money talib” “is all about the money”….it’s make me clear that the wonderful world of Disney did a good washing brain job.