Kanye West was fairly ruthless in his Drink Champs interview, and now another artist/multi-time collaborator has responded to Ye’s criticisms.
Talib Kweli took to Instagram on Friday, where he posted a four-minute clip from a documentary titled Talib Kweli: The Movie. It stars a number of notable rappers and celebrities, like MF Doom, Yasiin Bey, Common, Dave Chappelle—and yes, Kanye.
Alongside the footage, Talib included filmed quotes from West in the caption. “Kweli and Mos Def took me in when nobody else would. They were like ‘we like you,’” Ye said. He can also be heard saying, “[Kweli] taught me the most about being an artist. More than anybody.”
Talib also included a quote Kanye gave in 2018 about Trump’s red MAGA hat, which West donned in the Oval Office with the single-term president: “There was something about this (MAGA) hat when I put it on it made me feel like Superman.”
After that, the Brooklyn native wrote, “BTW @kanyewest I also wear fedoras too. 🤷🏾♂️🤣” and threw in hashtags for #MAGAISTERRORISM and #COMEBACKHOME.
Kanye didn’t have kind words for Talib during the Drink Champs conversation. The Donda rapper was asked to pick between former G.O.O.D. Music signee Common or Kweli, with Ye choosing Common. Of course, choosing Common didn’t come without critique from Kanye.
“Definitely Common. … Common is a thousand times better rapper than Kweli,” West said. “You asked me my opinion. My opinion is that everybody knows that Common [is better]. The only thing I don’t like about Common is he, like, works for the Democrats. … John Legend-ass n***as, bro.”
Kanye also had something to say about Talib criticizing him for endorsing Trump.
“Man, you can’t tell me what I’m going through in my life. … If you take the average 99 percent of people and say, ‘Do you wanna be Kweli or do you wanna be Ye?’ More people are gonna wanna be Ye, Kweli,” he said of the Black Star member. “What you talking about? So like you told that man, don’t give me no advice. Go open a book, read yourself to death.”
So far Just Blaze and Big Sean have also reacted to Kanye West’s Drink Champs interview. For a rundown of everything we learned in the two-and-a-half-hour chat, head here.
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