Talib Kweli - Ear Drum

*Alternate Album Cover*

August 21, 2007, Talib Kweli's much anticipated album "Ear Drum" was released. His album debut numbers were extremely solid, coming at #2 on the U.S. billboard 200. In only the first week, Talib sold 60,000 copies of his new album, whose tracks were described and available to listen to for free on his website. After two weeks of sales, Talib had sold over 85,000 copies of his albums. Talib's album consists of many beats and lyrics in which the listener understands. Out of all the hip-hop and rap music artists out there, Talib Kweli is one of the best lyrical geniuses to ever write music.

Reviews:
Entertainment Weekly: "A procession of sharp cuts."
NOW Magazine: "That both 50 Cent and Jay-Z have named Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli as their favourite rapper hasn't changed the fact that sales of his last five albums have never reflected the level of respect shown to hiphop's smooth-flowing street poet laureate. Kweli appears determined to change that with the long-awaited Ear Drum. It's the debut release for the new Warner-distributed Blacksmith boutique label run by his manager, Corey Smyth, whose roster includes Jean Grae and the Xzibit-fronted Strong Arm Steady.

Throughout the 16 varied tracks of the collabo-crazy disc (which benefits enormously from the on-point production of Madlib, Hi-Tek, Kanye West, Kwame and Will.i.am), Kweli's curse- 'n' clich&eacute-free rhyme-ripping proves he needs no help on the microphone. He outshines his celebrated guests, including labelmate Grae, KRS-One, Norah Jones (!), Sonia Sanchez, UGK's Pimp C and Bun B, Musiq Soulchild and Raheem DeVaughn.

And judging from the fact that the track Nature doesn't appear to have made the final cut, Kweli's confident enough in his combination of righteous rhetoric and funky beats not to need to use his throwdown with Justin Timberlake as an added sales incentive."

The Onion (A.V. Club): "On seminal early albums with Black Star and Reflection Eternal, Talib Kweli rapped as if each line might be his last, and he'd stopped to stockpile words in case he never had another chance to use them. The results were exhilarating and exhausting. Kweli's recorded output has grown much spottier since, but last year's nifty collaboration with Madlib, the Liberation EP, found Kweli in a nice, relaxed groove that continues with his stellar new Eardrum.

Kweli has learned to use his voice as a warm, relatively diverse instrument, and not just a conduit for rapid-fire ideas and pop-culture allusions. Just Blaze's "Hostile Gospel Pt. 1" delivers the same goosebump-inducing heavenly rush as "Get By," and though Kweli still regularly speeds through tracks like a racehorse fearing a trip to the glue factory, the overall vibe takes its cues from the laid-back, chilled-out production of ringers like Madlib, Kanye West, Hi-Tek, and Pete Rock, as well as the ubiquitous Will.I.Am, who in spite of his death-penalty-worthy crimes against music, cooked up some mean beats for "Hot Thing" and "Say Something." Sexual and spiritual, conscious and just plain fun, Eardrum is a master class in lyricism from a man supremely comfortable in his own skin. While other rappers pump out music for ringtones, Kweli makes art for the ages."

The Track Listing:
"Everything Man" (8.5 out of 10)
"NY Weather Report" (8.3 out of 10)
"Hostile Gospel Part 1 (Deliver Us)" (8.9 out of 10)
"Say Something (Feat. Jean Grae)" (8.3 out of 10)
"Country Cousins (Feat. UGK & Raheem Devaughn)" (8.4 out of 10)
"Holy Moly" (8.6 out of 10)
"Eat To Live" (8 out of 10)
"In The Mood (Feat. Kanye West & Roy Ayers)" (9.3 out of 10)
"Soon The New Day (Feat. Norah Jones)" (8.5 out of 10)
"Give Em' Hell (Feat. Lyfe Jennings & Coi Mattison)" (7.8 out of 10)
"More Or Less (Feat. Dion)" (8.6 out of 10)
"Stay Around" (8.4 out of 10)
"Hot Thing (Feat. Will.I.Am)" (9.5 out of 10)
"Space Fruit Interlude" (N/A out of N/A)
"The Perfect Beat (KRS-One)" (8.1 out of 10)
"Oh My (Feat. Musiq Soulchild)" (7.8 out of 10)
"Listen!!!" (9.1 out of 10)
"Go With Us (Feat. Strong Arm Steady)" (8.4 out of 10)
"Hostile Gospel Part 2 (Deliver Me) (Feat. Sizzla)" (8.6 out of 10)
"The Nature (Feat. Justin Timberlake)" (8.7 out of 10)
"Hot Thing (Remix) (Feat. Jean Grae, Ne-Yo, and Luther Vandross)" (9 out of 10)

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