| Adjust font size: |
  |
Hip Hop's demise has been greatly exaggerated. 50 cent and Kanye West are set to release albums on Sept 11 in a battle of hip hop heavyweights. The album of the year may have already been released prior to the release of those two albums. Talib Kweli's EARDRUM which debuted at # 2 on the Billboard chart is a near perfect Hip Hop album. Talib has been widely regarded as one of the best of the best hip hop lyricists of our generations. EARDRUM which follows Talib Kweli's Beautiful Struggle (2004) and Liberation (2007) may be some of Talib's best work to date. Featuring 16 music tracks and 3 bonus songs as well for a total of 19 banging tracks with solid production throughout (Kanye West, Pete Rock, MadLib, Will I am, Hi-Tek amongst others) Guest artist include UGK, Jean Grae, Kanye West, Lyfe Jennings, KRS-One, Musiq Soulchild and Justin Timberlake).
What makes Eardum classic material is Talib Kweli's lyrical flow and verbal wordplay. As he states on "NY Weather Report" "I paint a picture you can see the people bleed in my bars"
Talib also manages to make songs have a social relevance to events going on in the world and America. Although the term "conscious rapper" seems to be rather dubious these days, Talib manages to highlight issues without coming across as too "preachy" He does this while at the same time discussing various religious and social issues. This album also has a variety of other tracks with less "serious" issues and tracks more suited to women and male/female interplay.
My favorite songs on this CD are:
"GIVE EM HELL" Track 10 in which Talib raps about the history of religion in his life and the world. " ..the difference between those who claim to be religious and those who say they spiritual, and recognize that life is full of miracles" Talib lyrics and the combination of Lyfe Jennings and Coi Mattison singing make this track a standout cut.
"MORE OR LESS" Track 11 Again Talib goes off on a superb lyrical rampage about the solutions and things in life that he feels we should focus on. "More rap songs that stress purpose with less misogyny and less curses, lets put more depth into our verses 'til their left on the surface"
"DELIVER US"(Hostile Gospel) Track 3 Talib's lyrical flow and message behind this track again make it a deep track that makes you think - "The black kids wishing they white kids, when they close they eyelids, like I bet their neighborhood aint like this, the white kids wishing they black kids and wanna talk like rappers its all backwards, its identity crisis..."
There is not much on this CD that I do not like. Dope beats, great flow and lyricism. Nearly flawless. The Kanye West featuring/produced track "In the Mood" may be my least favorite track. Still a good track nevertheless.
Eardrum Rating
My rating 5 out of 5
|
EMAIL THIS PAGE TO FRIENDS
(coming soon)
ADD A COMMENT
This is a cd you can listen to from beginning to end. Everything Man is my favorite and that's a hard pick from so many good tracks.
Posted on Sep-21-2007, 11:12 AM