Kweli comes up with a keeper
Nine years ago, a couple of New York battle rappers, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, crafted a once-in-an-era album in what was likely a once-in-a-lifetime pairing as Blackstar.
Then they explored their solo options, with Mos Def creating one classic ("Black on Both Sides") and two musical experiments, while Kweli journeyed between underground conquest and mainstream acceptance.
This, of course, is the fate of great rap outfits (UGK, OutKast, Public Enemy, Little Brother). As they grow, they also separate. One is more skilled, but the other is more charismatic. One is more successful, but the other is more talented.
Mos Def, as capable with sung rhymes as he was with raps, was intrinsically more of an artist, but Kweli, a lyrical carpenter, was undoubtedly more of an artisan.
On his third solo album, "Ear Drum," out today, Kweli embraces the rhymes and simplifies everything else. No market expectations (he has his own label, Blacksmith). No sound to live up to. Just spitfire flow and a soulful sound.
He's a wordsmith, using syllables as building blocks for lyrics that look as good on paper as they sound on wax. The back-end assonance in this rhyme over a frantic Just Blaze beat for "Hostile Gospel Pt. 1" is a perfect example: "Black kids wishin' they white kids/ When they closin' they eyelids/ They like, I bet they neighborhood ain't like this/ White kids wishin' they black kids/ Talking like rappers/ It's all backwards, it's identity crisis."
A few collaborations accentuate the album. "Country Cousins" is an earnest attempt by a New York rapper to acknowledge the impact of the South on hip-hop, reaching out to UGK, one of the region's pillars, for a cameo. Kanye West uses a couple of bars on "In the Mood" to fawn over Tootie from "The Facts of Life." And Norah Jones lends her voice to the sultry track "Soon the New Day."
The album's most impressive lyrical moment -- and maybe one of the most lethal lyrics Kweli has ever composed -- comes in a 45-second burst at the start of "Stay Around." Kweli creates an imaginary forum to address the successes and shortfalls of his commercial hip-hop career while summarizing the overall theme of this album. It's an internal conversation worth eavesdropping on as Kweli raps from the perspective of his fans:
"Yeah, Kweli, you should rap about this/ You should rap about that."
"Any more suggestions?" Kweli asks. "You in the back/ Yeah, you."
"You should rap on beat/ You should rap more street/ And never, ever get your mack on, please."
"How 'bout you?" Kweli asks another fan.
"I like the way you're melodic/ It's cuz you capture hypnotic portraits that seem to make the average exotic."
"Kweli, you nice/ I know you gettin' some love/ But you can't spit like a thug/ How you gon' blow/ You make a hit for the club."
They are the thoughts of people who expect a classic record out of a talented MC, and apparently the MC is thinking the same thing.
