- See all the Ratings
- Add my Rating now
Ever since emerging as a member of Black Star in the late 90s, Talib Kweli has been one of the few artists making commercially viable music that matters. The Brooklyn bred rapper’s hard-hitting music has been able to educate and entertain simultaneously. So it is no wonder that at the peak of their fame, both Jay-Z and 50 Cent named Talib Kweli as one of their favorite rappers. Despite Talib’s recent rise to commercial success, his hits are provoking and catchy all at the sametime.
With Ear Drum, his first album released on his own Blacksmith Music and his sixth album overall, Kweli has just released the second single Hot Thing. With lyrics such as “I love to play connect the dots with yo facial freckles” and of course the track title, it is a hip-hop ode to love in 2007. The first single Listen has caught the ear of Australia and the world (and even featured on EA Games NBA Live ‘07) and this one will be no different. Kweli is no stranger to the gaming community either featuring as the voice in Marc Eckō’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, released in 2006.
“The vast majority of my subject matter focuses on black self-love, black self esteem, black self worth,” Kweli says. “That translates to other communities because if you’re a human being, it doesn’t matter what color you’re talking about. You’ve been through some sort of struggle and you can apply it to your own life.”
Featuring vocals and production work from Will.I.Am, this is hip-hop/RNB at it’s finest and looking at the history of the past two singles, Ear Drum should be a fantastic release.
