WATCH TALIB KWELI'S HOT NEW VIDEO

Talib Kweli's new album, Ear Drum, is an instant masterpiece; it features him in his element spitting lyrical fire in all sorts of directions. The Brooklyn MC has just released the video for his new single "Hot Thang" produced by and featuring will.i.am. I definitely think this is one of the freshest videos I have seen this year alongside Kanye West's "The Good Life". Check it out:



The video is obviously inspired by the "The PC is Personal Again" commercials that HP did last year, which featured the likes of Jay-Z, Mark Cuban and Pharrell Williams. Dope shit!

REVIEW – TALIB KWELI AND MADLIB’S LIBERATION

By Larissa Focke

Madlib is one of my favourite DJ / producer’s and ever since hearing the socio-political rawness of 'Sharp Shooters' on Lyricist Lounge back in the day, I will always respect Talib Kweli. So, when a friend first told me about this album, my expectations were high. Mind Altering Demented Lessons In Beats (Madlib) and a “true student” of the mic (Talib in Arabic means student, Kweli in Swahili means true) – sounds like a good combination.

Sadly, my expectations plummeted to the ground on hearing the final chords of the last track on the album. For the most part, in my opinion, the album lacked creativity and funk. The beats had potential but with Talib sticking to the same recipe as far as his delivery’s concerned, Madlib’s production skills went to waste. Those of us on top of their shit would have known that the album was released for free in the first week of January 2007 on the internet. Either way, I wouldn’t have paid for this album.

Years later, I can still jam Kweli’s tracks like Get By, Move Something, Definitions, and The Blast. Madlib’s React, Come on Feet, Questions, The Awaited, When I’m on da Mic, Good Morning Sunshine and Bad Character are regular features on my playlists. But the songs on Liberation seemed stagnant, repetitive and are neither artist’s best work. They will flitter out of memory when the music fades away and surely be forgotten, which is a damn shame.

Still, it’s good to hear Talib is continuing to rap about important issues, as opposed to hoes, clothes and bling. Case in point: “My rhymes is full of truth, and the business full of lies/ Try to look a Masai kid in his eyes for the flies and tell him how he fucked up our environment daily/The only thing we know about Africa is from Nas or Belly/ But go off like a Hutu or Tutsi, from Rwanda or Burundi/ Over drums like Babatunde Olatunji...”

Madlib is a prolific and multi-talented DJ / producer / MC, who specialises in digging. A digger is a DJ who searches through thousands of thrift shops let alone records to find musical gems. He then samples these tracks and implements them into his own musical creations, constructing something original and fresh, yet oddly familiar. The first time I ever heard Madlib was on a song called 'Rhyme Constructa', with Peanut Butter Wolf (founder of Stone’s Throw Records). “Yo, it’s the loop digga!” Madlib called out and half way through the track, when his alter-ego Quasimoto stepped up to the mic, I was smitten – hook, line and sinker.

All in all, I think Talib is a great MC and Madlib is amazingly talented, but there’s no magic in this collaboration. Talib should be more experimental in his craft, as opposed to experimenting with other artists. All too often, his flow and style is the same. Yet, a reunion with Mos Def, I think, is long overdue. Madlib has more creative freedom when he collaborates like-minded with artist such as MF Doom and Peanut Butter Wolf, and when he does, there are always mind altering beats on offer.

TALIB KWELI’S EAR DRUM LANDS A NO.2 SPOT ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS

By Nick Kaoma

I have been bumping Kweli’s new joint, Ear Drum, for a minute now, and I am thrilled that all the hard work that he put on this highly energetic album has paid off with a No.2 debut on the esteemed Billboard charts.

The Brooklyn-bred MC shipped 60, 000 discs of his fourth solo album, which features some interesting guest appearances from the likes of Norah Jones (Soon the New Day), UGK (Country Cousins) and oh wait for this…. Justin Timberlake.

Their collaboration on the bonus track “The Nature” has come as a surprise to many as not too many folks imagined that the blue-eyed crooner would be familiar with Kweli’s unadulterated music.

Kweli told an international magazine that he and Timberlake have been friends for a while and that he has always admired his work ethic and the way he goes the extra mile to perfect his sound.

"I had been recording at Record Plant in Los Angeles, and kept running into Justin Timberlake, who I went to Tanzania with on Cameron Diaz' MTV show," Talib told said. "I learned a lot watching him prepare his record...Justin works hard at beefing up his sound so it hits your ear right, and that's what I was focused on for my record."

While Talib says he knew his collaboration with JT would take listeners by surprise, the two friends felt that unexpected element gave them even more reason to finally jump on a track together.

"'The Nature' was a song he started for his record, but he hadn't finished it in time," Talib explained. "We both thought it would be great for us to collaborate because no one would expect it. People are surprised that he is familiar with my music and vice versa.”

While Kweli’s new album scores him a long overdue spot in the Top 10, it’s not reason enough to celebrate as he only scanned a mere 60, 000 discs which leaves him lagging way behind his fellow ‘conscious’ brethren, Common, who pushed 155, 000 copies of Finding Forever in his first week on the charts.

On the production side, Kweli has assembled an all-star cast of renowned beatmakers such as Kanye West, Hi-Tek, Pete Rock and will.i.am; their sonic landscape allow Kweli to weave nuanced lyrical imagery that is both fresh and enveloping to the ear.

I certainly hope that his sales do pick up as he produced arguably what is his best effort since Reflection Eternal.

Be sure to check out Encore next week for an exclusive in-depth review of Ear Drum. We’re going to break it down to you like no other Mzansi magazine can!

One!