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Forum nameOkay Artist Archives
Topic subjectTalib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=19&topic_id=5469&mesg_id=5469
5469, Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Posted by ricky_BUTLER, Mon Dec-22-03 11:32 AM
thesis: Talib Kweli will have the best OkayArtist rap release of 2004.

support: nothing really.

call it a hunch or a retarded whim, it's a prediction.

not wanting to throw around the easily battered term "classic", let's just resolve to say that Kweli has been a part of some damn good music: Reflection Eternal, Black Star, Quality.

thesis: Talib Kweli is one of the ten best MCs making music today.

call it an overestimation or foolish praise, it's a feeling.

sometimes the dude does get a little to Dennis Miller-ish with the similes, but like Quest has said, he has the unique ability to spit memorable lines at a greater ratio than most rappers. he clearly has some quotables in his cannon.

thesis: Talib Kweli is at his best when produced by DJ Hi-Tek.

well, i could enter the evidence of Respiration and Reflection Eternal as Exhibit A. this is not to say that Quality was somehow a bad record (not at all), just not up to par with the superior beats that the Brooklyn-Cincinnati collaboration had inspired in years prior. the album seemed to be missing some consistent texture on top of consistent . . . quality. someone once had the idea that Talib's latter was better than his former. to refute this claim the guy was pointed in the direction of Reflection Eternal tracks 1-20.

how will Talib Kweli will have the best OkayArtist rap release of 2004?

the lyrics seem to be guaranteed. every track will not be flawless, but each should represent a higher level of lyricism than most.

featuring? "if skills sold, truth be told, i'd probably be lyrically Talib Kweli." the Get By remix(es) arrived, some more than surface connections with the R-O-C have sprung up, and the rumor mill has even been cornered. does this mean he's gonna turn his album into the Internet message board-A&R wet dream? R.E. had Xzbit, Rah Digga, Kool G Rap, Mos Def, De La Soul. Quality had Cocoa Brovaz, Mos Def, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch. next up?

i don't wanna come off as this guy more concerned with beats than words, but damn an ass if it doesn't have the matching hips. the focus has to balance each other, both maintaining an equal relationship working each for each, making all elements stronger. that's what Hi-Tek did. that's what some producers failed to accomplish on the last album.

when i think of Talib Kweli and listen to him i feel nothing but sincerity and honesty. i doubt he'll let labels (record or otherwise) convict and jeopardize that integrity he's been working with this many years.

if i can suggest (see: hope for) guest appearances: Michelle Ndegeocello, Q-Tip, Saul Williams, Kayne West, Mos Def, J-Live, Aceyalone, Esthero (all culled from the Reflection Eternal "thank you" liner notes)

i wouldn't mind some lesser known producers to get some shine, but if anyone can call up Kayne, Pete Rock, Premier, 88 Keys, Diamond D, The Beatnuts, please do so. oh, and i heard this cat named Hi-Tek is kinda nice.

after the disappointment following Phrenology and confusion settling after Electric Circus, 2002 held Quality on top those three. The Tipping Point and B.E. tentatively have 2004 release dates, but again i look for Kweli to serve up the best OkayArtist rap release of the year.

and a new BlackStar album wouldn't be so bad either.

(Rawkus, stop dicking around with my music.)