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Subject: "Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle" This topic is locked.
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ricky_BUTLER
Member since Jul 06th 2003
16899 posts
Mon Dec-22-03 11:32 AM

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"Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle"


          

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.)

  

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Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle [View all] , ricky_BUTLER, Mon Dec-22-03 11:32 AM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
This would be nice...
Dec 22nd 2003
1
it's not the time of the arrival that matters
Dec 22nd 2003
11
LOL
Dec 22nd 2003
2
2002 breakdown
Dec 22nd 2003
4
      Lyrics 6.5 my ass!
Dec 22nd 2003
5
      RE: Co Sign
Dec 22nd 2003
6
      If Kweli is on some RE type shit again then...
Dec 23rd 2003
18
      not the point of the post, people
Dec 22nd 2003
8
      RE: 2002 breakdown
Dec 22nd 2003
7
           Reflection Eternal
Dec 22nd 2003
9
I
Dec 22nd 2003
3
i don't play the guitar, i play my cadence-
Dec 22nd 2003
10
footnote-
Dec 22nd 2003
12
It's Impossible To Say
Dec 22nd 2003
13
      2004 looks nice
Dec 22nd 2003
14
      RE: It's Impossible To Say
Dec 23rd 2003
15
      RE: It's Impossible To Say
Dec 23rd 2003
31
disagree but...
Dec 23rd 2003
16
RE: disagree but...
Dec 23rd 2003
24
interesting
Dec 23rd 2003
17
Beautiful Struggle: Undercover
Dec 23rd 2003
25
RE: interesting
Dec 23rd 2003
40
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 23rd 2003
19
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 23rd 2003
20
just to get a rep
Dec 23rd 2003
26
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 23rd 2003
21
why can't we be friends?
Dec 23rd 2003
22
Esthero...
Dec 23rd 2003
23
Tao of Now
Dec 23rd 2003
27
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 23rd 2003
28
bias?
Dec 23rd 2003
29
Quality was not the best of the 3 - It was the worst
Dec 23rd 2003
30
RE: Quality was not the best of the 3
Dec 23rd 2003
32
RE: Quality was not the best of the 3
Dec 24th 2003
42
Rawkus track?
Dec 24th 2003
43
      RE: Rawkus track?
Dec 24th 2003
44
      RE: Rawkus track?
Dec 25th 2003
45
           correction
Dec 25th 2003
46
RE: Quality was not the best of the 3
Dec 31st 2003
55
hmmm
Dec 23rd 2003
34
      RE: hmmm
Dec 25th 2003
47
           RE: hmmm
Dec 26th 2003
48
                just to add
Dec 27th 2003
49
                     RE: just to add
Dec 27th 2003
50
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 23rd 2003
33
please write to my fan club
Dec 23rd 2003
35
Wow, look in your mailbox for your "news update" prize
Dec 23rd 2003
36
this post will remain in the minds of my foes
Dec 23rd 2003
38
i'd just like to add my praise here...
Dec 23rd 2003
37
*bows*
Dec 23rd 2003
39
      RE: *bows*
Dec 23rd 2003
41
           Talib Kweli presents brr dum dum dum
Jan 03rd 2004
60
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 29th 2003
51
RE: Talib Kweli: Beautiful Struggle
Dec 30th 2003
52
pretty much
Dec 31st 2003
53
Kweli as a RocA Fella?
Dec 31st 2003
54
RE: Kweli as a RocA Fella?
Dec 31st 2003
56
      RE: Kweli as a RocA Fella?
Jan 01st 2004
57
      just because it's on some message boards
Jan 02nd 2004
59
      RE: Kweli as a RocA Fella?
Jan 01st 2004
58
           ^
Jan 08th 2004
61
This post is a master piece... Well expressed!
Jan 08th 2004
62
Hi-Tek!
Jan 13th 2004
63

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