Anything Talib Kweli does deserves attention. When Jay-Z and 50 Cent deem you their “favorite rapper,” you know you’re doing something right. The hip-hopping all star’s latest endeavor, Idle Warship, is a collaboration with vocalist extraordinaire, Res. After working together on Talib’s extensive catalog of studio releases, the two got together to experiment with new sounds.

Talib and Res took the stage at Amoeba Music in Hollywood on Wednesday, verifying to the crowd that venturing past their musical comfort zones was a glorious decision on both of their parts. The duo, backed by a full live band, performed songs off their recent release, Habits of The Heart. Talib took a moment to thank the crowd for supporting both of their solo careers over the years and explained that his goal for Idle Warship is to “create something new and entertaining but to have fun at the same time.”

The duo entertained shoppers with compelling lyrics such as “Check 1, 2. We are live. Back it up like a hard drive.” In the midst of an energetic stage show, Res debuted her brand new flip cam. Talib playfully accused her of being “about 3 years behind the times” while she proudly aimed it at the audience and fellow on stage musicians throughout various points in the performance (we were standing in the front row and are totally ending up on You Tube).

Check out our interview with Idle Warship after the jump:

Give us a rundown of how Idle Warship came to be? You guys went into the studio together and started making music for fun and then realized that you had a whole project out of it…?

Talib: There you go!

I want to hear your version.

Talib: What she said! Yeah. Res and I we had the same management early in our careers. We didn’t grow up together. We were put in studios together around each other and from the first time that I heard Res voice – Res voice just makes a lot of sense for the type of hip hop that I make. So she’s been invited to be on all my albums and we became friends over time and we realized that we both had a stigma for the type of artists that we were individually and that’s something that we had in common. People didn’t really give us credit for our complete musical influences; they only want to see and hear one thing from us. The idea of Idle Warship was to do a group that broke all those rules.

Who named the project and what’s the significance of the name?

Talib: I named the project. The significance of the name is the idea that potential energy can become kinetic but it needs a cause. It started as just a play on words and how people are caught up in celebrity worship but it developed into something that was talking about “Idle Warship” – an actual warship docked, sitting idle but with a bunch of weapons. It can cause a bunch of destruction but it needs an actual cause or a battle to fight. And that’s what I feel like a fanbase can be. That’s what I feel like musicians can be. That’s what I feel like people that love music and art and culture can be but I feel like we’re not quite there yet.

Where does this stand in terms of your other projects? Is this a main priority?

Talib: Idle Warship is my priority right now. I have a bunch of other projects that I’m working on right now and they’re all moving at certain paces but this is right now. We dropped the album in November and we’re on tour right now. And it’s the hardest thing for me to sell my fanbase on which makes it the most challenging thing. Which makes it the most fun thing for me.

Why is it the hardest thing to sell your fanbase on? Just because it’s different?

Talib: Yeah. My fans are invested in me. You know I’m 10 albums deep, all hip-hop albums. I’ve given them a lot of hip-hop so it’s not their fault that hip-hop is what they’d expect from me.

What can fans expect from Idle Warship in years to come?

Res: We’re working on another album right now and like Talib said, this is our music challenge. He knows how to rap and you kind of at this point know what your fans like. I know what my fans like but it’s always good to constantly challenge yourself and make new styles of music and experiment with different styles. We were sitting and talking and trying to figure out if we were going to go into the whole dubstep kind of vibe or whatever and we may do it or we may not but it’s good that this project leaves us open to do whatever we want at the moment.

Idle Warship – Rat Race by idlewarship

What is your favorite part about this project and working together in Idle Warship?

Talib: I gotta honestly say my favorite part is working with Res. I’m in a bunch of groups: Reflection Eternal, Black Star… I’m a fan of the team play and acknowledging the team aspect but just being able to work with a singer…To work with someone who is so beautiful and to work with someone whom I just like so much just puts me closer to Res and that’s just a beautiful place to be.

Res: For me it’s definitely the fact that I’m with somebody that I’m friends with and who can give me good criticism that I can trust – criticism that’s coming from a good place and not a competitive place. It’s good to have a teammate. I’ve never been in a group before so for me it’s good to have someone to share the workload or to say, “look what we did together.” It’s always a good time and performing is great for me. Those two things make it fun.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon)