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Eardrum
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- 568,561 plays
- 1,059 favs
- 11 shares
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- Talib Kweli
- Released 2007
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- Hot Thing
- 03:48
- 53,044 plays
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- In the Mood
- 03:55
- 39,064 plays
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- Hostile Gospel, Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)
- 05:23
- 38,550 plays
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songs
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- 1
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Everything Man
- 03:16
- 31,674 plays
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- 2
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My Weather Report
- 04:35
- 30,688 plays
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- 3
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Hostile Gospel, Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)
- 05:23
- 38,550 plays
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- 4
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Say Something
- 03:42
- 27,660 plays
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- 5
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Country Cousins
- 04:31
- 33,515 plays
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- 6
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Holy Moly
- 02:08
- 25,752 plays
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- 7
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Eat to Live
- 03:07
- 25,524 plays
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- 8
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In the Mood
- 03:55
- 39,064 plays
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- 9
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Soon the New Day
- 04:02
- 33,881 plays
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- 10
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Give 'Em Hell
- 04:27
- 25,812 plays
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- 11
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More or Less
- 04:40
- 26,346 plays
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- 12
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Stay Around
- 04:15
- 20,670 plays
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- 13
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Hot Thing
- 03:48
- 53,044 plays
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- 14
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Space Fruit (Interlude)
- 01:31
- 16,551 plays
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- 15
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The Perfect Beat
- 03:49
- 27,643 plays
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- 16
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Oh My Stars
- 03:41
- 20,342 plays
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- 17
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Listen!!!
- 03:58
- 27,162 plays
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- 18
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Go with Us [*]
- 03:59
- 19,460 plays
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- 19
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Hostile Gospel, Pt. 2 (Deliver Me) [*]
- 04:21
- 20,344 plays
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- 20
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The Nature [*]
- 05:01
- 24,881 plays
album review
Although the most salient attribute of hip-hop is the words, the production behind it is equally important. It turns rhymes into song, into something you can feel, something that moves you. And while Talib Kweli certainly has the lyrical aspect down, often his albums -- and to be fair, those of other so-called "conscious MCs" -- tend to suffer from a dearth of good beats. Of course there are still decent tracks, great tracks even, but there's also a lot of filler-sounding material, warm and slow and utterly boring, that deadens the overall flow and power of the album and twists Kweli's powerful vocals into dripping preachiness that lacks oomph behind the pretension and self-indulgence. This same affliction besets Eardrum, the MC's first release on his own Blacksmith label, which, despite its wide selection of producers -- Kanye West, will.i.am, Pete Rock, Just Blaze, Madlib, and Hi-Tek, to name some -- never quite seems to take off, to claim the beat and make it its, and Kweli's, own. The most egregious example of this is in the Afrika Bambaataa-alluding "The Perfect Beat," which sports the worst production on the entire record, simple and cheap-sounding, KRS-One's tired rhymes not helping matters. Nothing else is quite this bad, a lot of it is good in fact, but it is this lack of subtlety, of giving the superlative and then failing to measure up, that bogs down the album. Kweli's trying to single-handedly save rap, practically calling himself its messiah, like in the intro, "Everything Man," where different people talk about the first time they heard him. It's more than a little self-indulgent, but fortunately the MC quickly moves into other territory, discussing social problems, generally those that revolve around poverty ("Eat to Live"), the state of rap and his own place in it ("Listen"), and women ("Hot Thing"). But these are topics that have all been heard before, and perhaps because of that Kweli expands his themes, trying to diversify his rhymes, from the not as catchy "Jesus Walks" ripoff of "Hostile Gospel, Pt. 1" to the tiresome tribute to his children of "Oh My Stars" to the half empowerment, half celebration of a one-night stand (featuring none other than Norah Jones) of "Soon the New Day." Unfortunately, these same moments are also where he seems to be stretching himself too thin, going too far, trying too hard. At 20 tracks and nearly 80 minutes, Eardrum is both too much and too little, never quite understanding exactly what it needs to be. There are certainly strong moments here: Kweli's flow and rhymes are outstanding, and beats by Just Blaze, Hi-Tek, and Kanye West (who, despite his generally abysmal MC skills, comes out with a pretty decent line in "In the Mood": "Only Michael Richards saying, only much blacker/So if he say nigga, then I'm a say -- /Is this a Ritz? Carlton dressed like fresh like just like") are all good, clearly produced by well-practiced and knowledgeable minds, but maybe it's an over-aggrandized sense of purpose, the desire to be and do too much, that keeps the album and the rapper from truly achieving much at all. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
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- Quality (Parental Advisory)
- Released 2002
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- The Beautiful Struggle (Parental Advisory)
- Released 2004
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- Eardrum (Parental Advisory)
- Released 2007
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listener reviews
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Easiest Kweli Listen Eever
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- By bossxtreme
- 9/18/2008 17:54:06
- When this album dropped, I found myself conflicted. After purchasing his last two albums, I found myself dissapointed and ready to mourn miss opporunity. Talib is a gifted MC who's ablity to blend street cred with intellegent commetary are unmatched. However, it's hard not to look at his albums "The Beatiful Struggle" and "Right About Now" and not feel like he was struggling to find a niche. It wasn't that those albums were bad, but after he came out with both barrels blazing on his first two albums, one can't help but feel as if the last two albums were substandard. You could hear him reaching for something; anything to make everything come together. Well, perhaps he was looking for Will.I.Am. The man is all over Eardrum and his mastery shows here. This album finds that missing link and works it for all it's worth. "Eardrum" is Kweli's return to form and it's so sweet to see a master at work. This is perhaps the most accessable album he's ever done. It's diverse in it's sound and it's guest apperances (From Jean Greye to Justin Timberlake). Usually a diverse formula leads to a disjointed and unfocused sound. Yet the production here makes everything flow together as one. So you think Talib has lost it? Like the man say in "Say Something". . Talk Shit Now!
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