TALIB KWELI JOINS WALL STREET PROTESTORS!

Hip-hop star Talib Kweli says his first visit to Occupy Wall Street won't be his last.
The Brooklyn rapper loaned his lyrics to the cause last week when he performed a song off a new unreleased solo album at Zuccotti Park.

"I'm not aligned with everyone politically who is there," he told the Daily News. "But I was overwhelmed by seeing democracy in action.

"You have to see how dedicated these people are to creating social awareness and creating a platform for us to talk about issues ... disparities in our country."

Kweli, 36, was on the road with Mos Def - his former partner in the acclaimed duo Black Star - when the activists began their sit-in against financial inequity.

He read about it on Twitter first, started hearing about other artists visiting the protesters and decided to go himself.

"Now this is the New York City I love," he tweeted as he pulled up last week.

Kweli grew up in Park Slope until he was 11 and then Flatbush. He went to Brooklyn Technical High School before his parents, both college professors, sent him to boarding school in Connecticut.

His brother, Jamal Greene, is a Harvard- and Yale-educated constitutional law professor at Columbia who clerked for a Supreme Court justice - after a stint as a Sports Illustrated reporter.

Kweli, who lives in Park Slope, said he hopes he can use his fame to bring more attention to the protesters.

He thought about making a video for the song he performed, "Distraction," but is worried it might look like he's using their cause to promote his work.

The song was written a year ago and contains references to corporate greed and the Arab Spring revolutions.

He said he'll be keeping tabs on the movement and sending out updates to his 370,000 Twitter followers. Another visit to Zuccotti Park seems likely.

"I'm positive I'll go back," he said.



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