Disco de Talib Kweli: “Gutter Rainbows”

The thing with Kweli is that if you look in his discography it's a hit or miss. While Train of Thought and Quality were dope, Beautiful Struggle was just a mess just like his mixtape.

Since dropping Eardrum though Kweli is a nice pace...Revolutions Per Minute, even though is not touching Train of Thought, is indeed a great album and now there's Gutter Rainbows.

Well this cd exceeded my expectations. The beats r dope with the exception of the Krysis one - what a disapointment by the way - all of the guests did a great job specially Jean Grae, Sean Price and a revigorated Chace Infinite.

Gutter Rainbows just made me salivating for the next Kweli project. He's one of the best mc's outta there for sure!!!

I have every other of Talib's work along with Hi-Tek and Mos Def, and 'Gutter Rainbows' falls short compared to his other solo's. There are a few good tracks and a couple great ones, yet the album doesn't flow to me in it's succession. I find myself skipping tracks cause some are to poppy, and others are harder and grittier. It's a fine album, his lyrics are always wise;relationships,economy,and personal positive growth are his strengths and it's why I like him so, but I really really tried to like this more but it is what it is. An average Hip-Hop album and I can't wait for his follow up.

Key Tracks

- Sow Low

- Palookas

- Gutter Rainbows

- Tater Tot

- Uh Oh

Lyrically, this is one of the strongest hip hop albums I have heard in years. Talib Kweli makes his listeners feel that they are taking a journey, with him, from track one through the last triumphant note. Gutter Rainbows takes a frank look at the joys and the horrors of living on what society would deem the fringes, the edges and the ghettos of our world. A beautiful, tragic and triumphant voyage from blunt smoke into the descent of our humble storyteller. One of the strongest cuts (for me) is "After the Rain." The samples have never been hotter, here. Even though I cannot relate to what Kweli speaks of, on a personal level, he gives me a sense of the phenomenon of the gutter rainbow he alludes to, in every track. The phenomena that beautiful spectrums of color arise from the dirt. On the flip side - where does this rainbow come from? It comes from oil - oil that, most likely, derives from petrol. This petrol is toxic, though, it looks beautiful in the glimmering sunlight. This could be a metaphor for the glorification of bling bling, hoes, big guns, big sound systems, the misogynistic attitude toward young African American females,and so many more stereotypes we are told to accept as the ultimate definition of Black Truth and identity in present day United States culture. So beautiful, so powerful, so lyrical and so very underrated. Please support Kweli. He is truly a luminary of our generation.

Let me be clear. Talib is one of my favorite rappers, but this cd isn't close to being one of his best efforts and nothing on this cd stands out or sets itself above or apart from the general noise of the current rap scene. This is unfortunate, because he's a lot more talented, creative, artistic and much better than what he's shown here.

Hopefully, he'll put forth a much better effort and more thought on his next cd.

I NEED NOT SAY MORE, I'VE BEEN DOWN SINCE THE DIRT, I HAVE ALL OF HIS ALBUMS AND MIX TAPES WITH ARTWORK. HIS MUSIC IS A CONSTANT CAP OFF FROM THE LAST ALBUM! KEEP IT COMING, I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE NEXT PROJECT.. THIS IS TIMELESS MUSIC FOR ME!!