BayviewLIVE Festival Featuring Talib Kweli

Talib Kweil on stage at BayviewLIVE

It takes a village. To raise a child, and in this case, to reclaim and breathe life into a neighborhood. The BayviewLIVE Festival held in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco is a celebration of the arts, while simultaneously partnering with tech companies and community organizations for youth outreach. Amidst a sea of murals, vendors, and people of various hues, one of the best rappers to ever put pen to paper got on stage and delivered a top flight performance. I’ve been a fan of Talib Kweli since I was a youngin, from Black Star to Beautiful Struggle and beyond. So when Kweli came on stage and started doing all the classic hits from his discography, and mixing that in with just enough political commentary to let you know what he was about, it was everything I hoped it to be. The Bay Area knows its hip-hop, and in general is pretty eclectic with the genres of hip-hop it consumes. This crowd did not disappoint; as soon as Talib went into his Just Blaze produced hit, “Never Been in Love,” it truly felt as if the whole crowd was two-stepping and jamming along. That’s the kind of moment you remember for the rest of your life.

Talib Kweil on stage at BayviewLIVE

Thank you BayviewLIVE for putting on such a great event. More importantly, thank you for caring that those who come after us, have the opportunity to express themselves through both the arts and the sciences.