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In the "conscious" rap game, even mid-list mainstreamers tend to get all but shut out of the highest-profile vehicles for hip-hop (BET, MTV, urban radio). Among these, Talib Kweli remains that exemplary liminal artist, one foot in the artistic purity of his underground roots and the other planted firmly in business of popular culture. Recent albums--The Beautiful Struggle and Right About Now--disappointed fans and critics alike, but Ear Drum marks a milestone in the Kweli catalogue. Wisely chosen collaborators (Kanye West, Roy Ayers, Jean Grae, Pete Rock, KRS-One, even Justin Timberlake and Norah Jones), accessible beats, and Kweli's staple of insightful, rhythmically drilling lyrics conspire to create his best outing since 2002's Quality. Blatantly front-loaded, Ear Drum's early tracks clearly outshine its back half. "NY Weather Report," "Say Something," "Holy Moly," and especially "Hostile Gospel Pt. 1" plainly sear, the latter two establishing the repeating theme of Kweli's tenuous relationship to religion. As Kweli himself makes clear in his first line on Ear Drum, "They say you can't please everybody," and plenty of sleepers lurk among Ear Drum's 20 cuts, but the standout tracks suggest that Kweli has bounced back from declining relevance with all cylinders firing. --Jason Kirk
 Customer Reviews 
Return of the Real
Rating: 4
The thing about Talib Kweli is just how underestimated he is among his contemporaries and the mainstream. He SAYS something; something more than how many women he's had, how many people he's shot, or how much product he's moved. People aren't used to that so they either dismiss it or downgrade it by putting it in the sub-category or "conscious rap". When you first listen through it, you think "okay, this or that is nice" but as you continue you listen, you have to play it again... and again and again. That's the hallmark of a great album, it makes you want to listen over and over again and we have that feeling here with Eardrum. How many rap artist have the audacity to put the legendary poet Sonya Sanchez on the same album with Timberlake? Crazy. Talib some how makes it work.
Honestly, nine out of the first 10 tracks the first ten track are vintage, classic, blaze... whatever you want to call great, they are that. Hostile Gospel leads them followed by Say Something. The back of the LP is a little less consistent, some tracks feel like filler when compared to the first tracks; the JT colabo comes to mind, but the weaker beats are carried by something I haven't heard is a long time --lyrical skill. Lyrical ability is so under estimated and here Talib shows how even if the production isn't as good, you want to listen to what he has to say, not just a funky baseline.
If you don't listen to any album this year, put this in your eardrum.
Good Hip Hop
Rating: 5
This is a must for all underground hip hop fans.Talib always has something new to say go check it out. Standouts: NY Weather Report,Country Cousins,listen,more or less,the perfect beat
Brooklyn (Kweli) does it again!
Rating: 5
Talib is sooo talented. Folks writing negative reviews need to READ the lyrics instead of hearing one track and commenting. Especially that cat from LA. I forgive you. The air in that state, California, makes people do dumb things (vote for an Austrian who BARELY speaks english as Govenor, etcetera). ANYWHOO--Kweli, Will.I.am, Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Apathy, Atmosphere, Common, The Roots crew, The Procussions, Kanye, Ghostface, Ill Bill, Immortal Technique are just part of the FEW who can keep Hip Hop real. Talib is only part of a handful who's lyrically talented. The track "Eat to Live" should ring a bell for alot of you cats in space because WE lived it. Just hearing the track brings back VIVID memories things my parent did to keep the family alive. Big Ups Kweli.
Keep em' flowin' Kweli!
BROOKLYN S T A N D U P
Cooper Park
50 Debevoise Ave
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