Beef between Consequence and Talib Kweli has erupted on social media over the recent controversy surrounding Kanye West.
On Wednesday (Oct. 26), smoke between veteran New York MCs Consequence and Talib Kweli popped off on Instagram as a direct result of all the drama that currently surrounds Kanye West. Consequence apparently took exception to Kweli’s formal request for an interview with the Don’t Quit Your Day Job rapper on Talib’s People’s Party Podcast after Cons has publicly supported Ye in recent weeks. In an Instagram caption accompanied by a screenshot of an email Talib’s podcast team sent to Consequence requesting an interview, the Queens native accused Kweli of clout chasing.
“I’m down to do interviews because I feel clarity is needed to be conveyed thru productive communication in order to move forward, but n***a, let’s not play no stupid games,” wrote Consequence. “One minute, you Internet thuggin’, next minute, you want an interview. Come on, beloved, [Talib Kweli], what we doing? When I saw you with [Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle] you expressed that you wanted to put it to bed with Ye, so this feels like you trading integrity for clout. If you want me to do a sit down with you to be in the ‘hot seat,’ then call me like a real one. Either [Q-Tip, Khalil Moses, Chris Rock] or DJ Chicken Fingers got my math. Oh, that’s right, you think you DJ Chicken Fingers. Let me know what we doing. Queens get the money.”
Immediately following the pointed call-out, Talib Kweli hit up the post’s comments section to seemingly troll Consequence with an excerpt from a Billboard article about how Yasiin Bey was seen rocking a “White Lies Matter” t-shirt in protest of Ye’s “White Lives Matter” apparel.
“From Billboard.com,” Talib’s comment reads. “‘Yasiin Bey Wears ‘White Lies Matter’ Shirt Amid Kanye West Controversy. Yasiin Bey, best known as Mos Def, took to Instagram on Friday (Oct. 7) to share a photo in response to Kanye West wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt to his Yeezy Season 9 runway show during Paris Fashion Week. The Brooklyn native shared a photo of himself wearing a shirt that also read ‘White Lives Matter.’ However, the ‘v’ was faded, and the shirt read ‘White Lies Matter.'”
Talib finished his comment with: “Yea, you tried it. But you failed tho.”
Unimpressed with Kweli’s reply, Consequence responded by once again accusing Talib, and subsequently his partner in rhyme, Yasiin Bey, of striving for attention.
Cons replied: “That wasn’t no check. Y’all both be doing shit for a ‘look.'”
In another comment on the same IG post, Kweli made his feelings toward Consequence, Kanye and the whole situation a lot clearer and more concise. He also denied ever requesting an interview with Cons on his own accord.
“You a bozo for this post,” added Talib. “I didn’t ask anyone to send you an email. @steve_bramucci, you got some explaining to do. I have no desire to interview Consequence. His silence on Kanye’s anti-Black Nazi shit is deafening. Also, me telling a racist troll that’s trying to weaponize you against a Black man that I’m not scared of is not internet thuggin’. I’m not a thug. Also, you scare nothing.”
To that, Consequence responded with: “And you been a bozo, nigga. I definitely wasn’t sitting with you for no clicks. You podding cuz you cold beloved.”
While the two “1st Time” collaborators battled it out in their IG comments, Talib Kweli hit up his own Instagram page with the same screenshot that Consequence posted,
So wait, @constv, you see racist trolls trying to weaponize you against me and instead of calling that bullshit out, you falsely accuse me of ‘internet thuggin’ all because I stated that I’m not frightened of you?” wrote Kweli. “That tells me that your goal was to frighten me. Let’s be clear. I’m not scared of you at all. Nobody is. Now to be even more clear, I didn’t approve this ask because I have no desire to interview [you] at all. I didn’t ask anyone to email you and frankly, I’m upset that my team sent this email because you are not welcome on my show. Your own Queens people don’t fuck with you. Me having you on my show would have me looking sus. Speaking of sus, why have you failed to call out [Kanye West’s] anti-Black Nazi ass rhetoric?”
From there, the beef between the two renowned rhymers continued in the comments section with Consequence once again dragging Yasiin Bey into the fray.
“Nobody forced me to do nothing and nobody ever will,” wrote Consequence in a comment aimed at Talib. “I’m not you where I fake it in person then start typing to take a position. Let’s not forget anything including how y’all had to run to Shaka to get on. I ain’t the one, beloved, and you the last nigga on Earth anybody is of, nigga.”
He continued: “You mad Ye fronted on you on [Drink Champs]. Just say you hurt, bro. Why your right-hand man, Mos [Def] ain’t check him? I saw Dante basically front on you by bigging him up about Graduation during y’all interview. You all cap.”
While Cons continued to throw shots at Talib, the “Get By” rhymer hit up Instagram again, this time, doing some clowning of his own aimed directly at Consequence. Kweli posted a screenshot of a headline that reads, “Consequence Apologizes to Drake After Getting Involved in Kanye Feud and Dissing Toronto Rapper on Song.” He captioned the photo by tagging Consequence’s IG account accompanied with, “Sorry ass nigga.”
Consequence’s next shot at Talib on IG came in the form of a clip from an episode of N.O.R.E.’s Drink Champs podcast, during which Dave Chapelle and Talib Kweli were guests. In the post’s caption, Cons implied that Chappelle, N.O.R.E and Yasiin Bey made a laughingstock of the legendary Brooklyn rhymer as it pertained to the topic of an interview with Kanye West.
“Let’s be clear, [Talib Kweli] is the number one punk on the planet,” he wrote. “You let [Dave Chappelle] do a whole Chappelle show skit about how Ye fried you on Drink Champs to your face. You don’t have no pride. You don’t have no dignity. You don’t have no self-respect. You a fucking bird. [Dave Chappelle] laughed at you to your face, [Yasiin Bey] laughed at you to your face (and tried to slide by saying ‘Let me get my food,’ cuz he knew it was coming). [N.O.R.E] laughed at you to your face then viewed out on some Queens shit. You even laughed at you just to save face, you know why? Cuz you a dick rider who wont get off the dick coaster and you from Brooklyn? Get the fuck outta [here]. Nigga, you a park slope nigga. I’m the one. Queens get the money.”
The wild back and forth between Talib Kweli and Consequence comes less than 24 hours after Cons publicly supported his longtime friend and collaborator, Kanye West. On Tuesday (Oct. 25), the Queens MC hit up Twitter to let it be known that despite all of Ye’s recent comments, he still ultimately stands with the controversial rapper-producer.
“I’ve stood with YE for 20 years and have always had his back He trust me more than ANYBODY Part of that is seeing things for what they are Whether G.O.O.D. or Bad Then from there making sure WE are moving in the right direction. I said what I said…”
On the flip side, Talib Kweli has been very vocal in his stance against Kanye West’s antics, specifically regarding the aforementioned “White Lives Matter” t-shirt and the fallout that followed Ye’s interview on Drink Champs earlier this month. In a viral Instagram post on Oct. 19, the Black Star rhymer called out Kanye directly, explaining that in his opinion, the right to freedom of speech doesn’t mean Ye shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions.
“[Kanye West], bro you not a good friend to [N.O.R.E], stop the [cap],” wrote Kweli along with a video clip of Ye defending the Drink Champs host. “You called N.O.R.E. because he the only one who would let you come on after The Shop shelved you because you was screaming, ‘White Lives Matter’ (a nazi phrase) at everyone during that taping. You know for a fact [Drink Champs] is not a political show but you went there to regurgitate lies about Black people from [Candace Owens], who is a political talking head. You literally wore a ‘2024’ hat, essentially announcing your political aspirations. You took advantage of N.O.R.E, someone who was giving you the benefit of the doubt, for your own political gain. And now you have jeopardized his show and made the families of the victims of racist police brutality want to sue you. And I don’t wanna hear shit about free speech since you bought Parler. Freedom of speech ain’t freedom from consequences. You use your free speech to support anti-Black rhetoric and people. I use mine to call that out. N.O.R.E was right to apologize. Because that’s what decent people do when they fuck up. Be decent, Ye
Both Consequence and Talib Kweli’s comments stem from the current media firestorm Kanye West has been facing ever since the Donda rapper-turned-fashion designer sported the now-infamous “White Lives Matter” shirt on Oct. 3. In the aftermath that followed the questionable fashion choice, Ye continued to add to the controversy through anti-Semitic comments and claims that George Floyd died from Fentanyl usage rather than being murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin.
Since then, Kanye West’s outbursts have seen the Yeezy creator being called out by organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and have resulted in the cancelation of many lucrative partnerships from the likes of Adidas, Balenciaga and Def Jam. Ye is also potentially facing a $250 million defamation lawsuit, which the family of George Floyd says they intend to pursue.
Hiphopraisedmetheblog.com has reached out to representatives for both Consequence and Talib Kweli for statements regarding the matter.
