Disco de Talib Kweli: “Quality (Clean Version)”

For any doubters out there, it is now official! Talib Kweli is a force in hip-hop. In music once can be a fluke, but twice is a pattern. This album is as good as the first one if not better, which is especially impressive because the bar was set so high with his debut Reflection Eternal. I used to be a little stuck on Kweli's voice but in a short time it has grown on me, and coupled with a signature delivery and top-notch lyrics, his flow has coalesced into one of the best in the industry - bar none! Talib Kweli may have carved out a niche for himself, as arguably hip-hop's smartest rapper but if you truly listen to Quality it's hard to argue that he is talking over people's heads. With Quality, Talib Kweli seems to have found that elusive balance between hip-hop that is political/conscious but not "preachy"; deeply soulful but not boring; and non-commercial but not poorly produced or unfriendly to radio. In fact Kweli scores big without the use of many big name rap producers and without Dj Hi-Tek, instead relying on lesser or barely known names like Kanye West, Dave West, J.Dilla, and Ayatollah to hold down the beat fort - and hold it down they do! Kayne West laces 3 of the albums tightest tracks in "Get By","Good to You", and "Guerrilla Monsoon" (featuring Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch) but there is plenty of other strong material that rivals even these cuts. Quality also scores big with a number of well timed guest appearance by underground hip-hop luminaries like the Cocoa Brovaz and Pharoahe Monch, but also some up-and-coming or barely heard of singers like Vinia Mojica, Novel, Res, and Kendra Ross. As usual the subject matter is varied and delivered like true poetry, ranging from topics like the joy of becoming a father ("Joy" ), to surviving in the system ("Get By", "Gun Music"), to black America post 9/11 ("The Proud"), to relationships ("Won't You Stay"). There's possibly no better way to describe this album than, than to say it is and represents everything hip-hop can be.

For any doubters out there, it is now official! Talib Kweli is a force in hip-hop. In music once can be a fluke, but twice is a pattern. This album is as good as the first one if not better, which is especially impressive because the bar was set so high with his debut Reflection Eternal. I used to be a little stuck on Kweli's voice but in a short time it has grown on me, and coupled with a signature delivery and top-notch lyrics, his flow has coalesced into one of the best in the industry - bar none! Talib Kweli may have carved out a niche for himself, as arguably hip-hop's smartest rapper but if you truly listen to Quality it's hard to argue that he is talking over people's heads. With Quality, Talib Kweli seems to have found that elusive balance between hip-hop that is political/conscious but not "preachy"; deeply soulful but not boring; and non-commercial but not poorly produced or unfriendly to radio. In fact Kweli scores big without the use of many big name rap producers and without Dj Hi-Tek, instead relying on lesser or barely known names like Kanye West, Dave West, J.Dilla, and Ayatollah to hold down the beat fort - and hold it down they do! Kayne West laces 3 of the albums tightest tracks in "Get By","Good to You", and "Guerrilla Monsoon" (featuring Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch) but there is plenty of other strong material that rivals even these cuts. Quality also scores big with a number of well timed guest appearance by underground hip-hop luminaries like the Cocoa Brovaz and Pharoahe Monch, but also some up-and-coming or barely heard of singers like Vinia Mojica, Novel, Res, and Kendra Ross. As usual the subject matter is varied and delivered like true poetry, ranging from topics like the joy of becoming a father ("Joy" ), to surviving in the system ("Get By", "Gun Music"), to black America post 9/11 ("The Proud"), to relationships ("Won't You Stay"). There is possibly no better way to describe this album than, than to say it is and represents everything hip-hop can be.

Sometimes it sucks to be the one to write a negative review about someone I respect and admire so much, but let's chalk it up to constructive criticism. The intro on this cd is probably the best i ever heard since 'Things Fall Apart'. Dave Chapelle was awesome, considering he also voiced the Nelson mandela intro on Eternal. 'Rush', produced by Megahertz was as good as any rap track I heard this year. 'Get by' was great too. Then the wheels came lose, things started crumbling as too many cooks started hitting the kitchen. Tracks 6, with Bilal, 7 with Mos, and of course the Soulquarian produced track 8 right the ship for a second, but kweli couldn't maintain the momentum.

What happened? you may ask. Well, as good as Talib is as a lyricist (he has some of the deepest flows I ever heard), he isn't the versatile MC Mos is. Mos can flow to 10 different producers and be able to adjust to each and every beat change and style. He can even ad lib and sing when he runs out of lyrics. Kweli on the other hand is very one dimentional. He is so used to Hi-Tek's beats that trying to sound half-commercial was a big mistake. Ayatollah, DJ Quik, etc. They are not people who pattern their musik to fit Kweli subtle wordplay. And why would you pick 2 J-Dilla beats that are identical, and then play them back to back?!

I love Kweli, I really do. But he should decide in his mind what he wants his albums to sound like. He is never going to be a commercial rapper. He should hook up with Hi-tek in future ( Except to work with ?uestlove, Dilla, Megahertz, storch, Darien, west, Poyser) for that is where his power lies. He should stay away from the gun rapping , thuglike rhymes he used on some tracks, for it isn't convincing.

I sum up by saying, good rhymes, confused artist, to many cooks. A lot of highlights, but a lot of lowlights too. thanks.

I had this album before but I found myself only listening to "Get By", so I sold it and figured I'd get that song burned since I really wasn't listening to much else. But Talib Kweli came to DePaul University for a concert tonight and when he rapped his songs out loud, it made me want to walk onstage (I was already standing up) and just give him a hug. Kweli makes me love hip-hop, true hip-hop and for that, I'm going to buy his cd again. Not just this one, but the rest. A true hip hop artist can perform a song and make you see it new every time. My heart almost burst out my chest when I heard "Get By". I really just love his presence. He's talking about something with depth in each one of his songs, and I appreciate that. It's so rare. At the concert, he had the Brickheadz dancing in the background while he rapped and it took me back to when I was little. I have nothing but love for the man. Get this album just to support a man doing his thing in an intelligent way.

As promised, I rebought the cd and remembered how much I like "Talk To You" (soulful, smooth) and "The Proud" (that sit-in-a-lawn-chair-think-where-your-life-is-headed joint). I enjoy it more than I did the first time.

I know what everyone is going to say. Am I nuts for giving this album only 3 stars ? No I am not. I am a Talib Kweli fan. I think he is one of the best MC's out now. But QUALITY, did not live up to the hype ( at least I think it didn't ). First, lets start with the lyrics. The rhymes alone get 5 stars. Talib Kweli is definitely a great lyricist. I remember when I first heard him in 1998 on DEFINITION from the BLACK STAR album and I was amazed at how nice his flow was. He seemed to just spit his rhymes without caring if he was offbeat or not. And that was great. Now he sort of gave up on the fast paced flow he used to have and rhymes more like he wants to flow with the beat. It's not bad but then again, it's not great. Now to the beats. His choice of beats weren't that good. His roster consists of Megahertz, Ayatollah, Jay Dee ( aka J Dilla ), Kanye West, DJ Scratch and others.

Beat Ratings 1 - 5

Megahertz - 2/5 ( too much rock influence )

This album has some joints. Such as RUSH, GET BY, GUN MUSIC, GUERILLA MONSOON RAP, JOY, WHERE DO WE GO ( DEDICATED TO WELDON IRVINE ) and the best song WAITIN' FOR THE DJ. For those REFLECTION ETERNAL fans out there, you'll be somewhat disappointed with the fact that DJ Hi-Tek doesn't provide a single beat on QUALITY. Talib Kweli really needs DJ Hi-Tek on the beats. I hope they didn't part ways. Though QUALITY is half good. The lyrics were good, the beats stink. Basically, the rhymes 5 stars, the beats 2 stars, overall 3 stars. Talib Kweli better go back to DJ Hi-Tek for production because having multiple producers doesn't work for Talib Kweli.