What's the deal homies?! This 20th anniversary salute goes to an album that is widely considered among the true great modern hip-hop albums of this new century. This DJ/emcee combo had been known from underground efforts such as Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1, Soundbombing, and Soundbombing II. The Brooklyn-Cincinnati pairing had quite the anticipation growing, especially once the Black Star project hit. What resulted was an album that was as fundamentally hip-hop as it was culturally substantial. We salute Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal, and their debut album, Train Of Thought.
Fresh off the overwhelming critical success of his effort with Mos Def as Black Star, Kweli had the heads ready and open for his debut, and in 2000, it arrived. He collaborated with longtime partner, DJ Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal, and they brought Train Of Thought. The album was first powered up by the thumping first single, "Move Something", but it was the infectious second single that put more people open to them. The cut, "The Blast" was an excellent cut that even highlighted Hi-Tek behind the mic as well. This was a cut that wasn't just for the fellas, as the ladies were able to do a good two step to it in the club as well. A great mid-tempo beat, along with great lyrics from Kweli and an introspective few bars from Tek made this cut a definite standout. The majority of this album is fairly introspective, but also relies on Black culture, the community, ancestry, and the human spirit. Cuts like the simply gorgeous duet with French duo Les Nubiennes, "Love Languages", "Memories Live", "Africa Dream", and the dazzling "Four Women" are so rich with culture and with self introspection that it's impossible not to get completely lost in them. Kweli's ability to grab you, yet educate you is a gift, and it's vividly displayed all over this effort.
Kweli is also an emcee, and don't ever forget that. Cuts like the Kool G. Rap-assisted "Ghetto Afterlife", the Mos Def-featured "This Means You", "Name Of The Game" and the lyrical slap-tastic collabo with Rah Digga and Xzibit, "Down For The Count" all highlight Kweli's excellent abilities to hold and control the mic, as a battler just as much as a teacher and poet. These are more rugged tracks that Hi-Tek crafts more so than the melodic, slow to mid-tempo grooves that he provides on here. Of course, there is the somber "Good Mourning" that gives the album even more of a reflective vibe as Kweli give a salute to those that have passed on. Kweli sounds absolutely hand-in-glove over Hi-Tek production, as everything Hi-Tek crafted was seemingly very appropriate for the rhymes and delivery that Kweli was presenting. This album was much cultural as it was day to day humanity, and these two pulled this off effortlessly.
Talib Kweli later delivered a thunderous solo album with Quality, and from there delivered other tremendous solo efforts such as The Beautiful Struggle, Eardrum, Gravitas, Gutter Rainbows, and Radio Silence. As for Hi-Tek, he delivered three highly enjoyable self-produced compilation albums, Hi-Teknology , Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, and Hi-Teknology 3: Underground. All these albums highlighted the best out of emcees both known and unfamiliar. As for these two together, they presented one more album in RPM: Revolutions Per Minute, which pretty much just as hard as their debut, but make no mistake about it, Train Of Thought was a diamond in the ruff, with highly thought-provoking rhymes, exceptional and consistent production, and a substantial, yet honest, look at the celebratory nature of the Black experience. Not to mention, this was also just as much good ol' fashioned hip-hop for both club-goers and backpackers alike. For this unbelievable album, we give Kweli and Tek a firm salute and raise our glasses! Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment