Talib Kweli - Eardrum

First, hot cd one of 2007's best.

First

I'll be picking this album up. It sounds good.

Nivce to see kweli back where he should be. This will be one of the best albums for 2007. Hoepfully we get to see another black star record with mos def soon.

Kweli is why at age 30 i'm not ashamed to say i'm a real hip-hop head. Kayne, lupe, common, nas, ghostface, k.r.s one, slum villiage, the roots, redman, mos def, c.l.smooth, and consequence thats what real hip hop is about in 2007. Diversity, creativity, originality, consciousness, awareness, comedy, and uplifting..... If the rapper you call the greatest rapper alive doesn't have at least 4 of those qualities he's not the greatest rapper....kweli's eardrum album i'm copping 2.... The edited version to play at the cookouts and around the fam... And the unedited version for when i get fed up with this bullisht people think is hip-hop today.

Oh one important thing i left out about what real hip hop is and that's family....it's not about the money, cash, hoes. Cars, and clothes.....that's what separates the boys from the men and the girl from the real women......think about dat

Yep !!!! kweli all day everyday. Album gets better with every listen

Love me some talib but he is always preaching teh black movement and black people this and that. I am white but love hip hop and most of teh people i listen to are black but between him and lauren hill its alway a thing about color and why we need to feel bad for black people why? i support good music no matter what color you are so dont make it about race. Am i alone on this ?

I respect da dude bt his flow is soooo crap geez

2 things. Shady g- you are wrong. Talib is arguably the best rapper alive. Definately top 5. T mo- look, i am also white and the thing you have to realize is that, because the majority is white and the minority is black, we will not be able to experience the things that many black people go through on a day to day basis. Being white, i know that white people have problems also, however it seems that minorities do get the short end of the stick.

To t mo understand this is not an attack but you don't have a clue talib is not being preachy or asking you to feel sorry for the nubian he is serving as a voice for a people who do not often take the time to present their plight in a unformed and intelligent way. Too often caught up in the fantasy of the material they become blinded speaking out of the desire to live the fantasy (as what you get in 90% of rap music today). As an individual outside of the culture, social interaction and plight your inability to relate is evident in the fact that you think it is about color when it is about equality black and white do not experience the world in the same way or on equal terms (do a little research by white scholars) and for the recorded white as a racial group on a world wide scale are the minority reference time magazine back issues because the americans usa is mainly white does not speak of the entire world again evidence of your limited understanding until whites experience the world as other groups do with the same barriers imposed then you won't get it i hope you so see the light of day peace

Well put, e.p.b.

Talib kweli is most definitely the greatest mc out

K kweli fan i gt what you sayin.he jus dnt appeal 2 me.he is kul tho dnt gt me wrng

Talib kweli and mos def lyricals are getting harder. They should put out a mixtape with dj premier or his instrumentals

I am black the problem i have with black people is that they do not support artist like talib kweli. When i go to their shows i am always the only brother with a malcolm x shirt. A couple of months ago krs one came to the projects to speak to the youths, very little blacks knew what was going on, this was the first time i saw a white man in the project (one of those hip hoper) we need artist like talib kweli going into inner cities; building trust by showing action, because black people are tired of hearing preaching. We got too many churches and we know they aint investing in the area. Basically what i am trying to say is the people need trust first.

Caution101, what is it about talib kweli that makes you distrust them? i mean, what about them or their music or how their actions make you not trust them?

@thought2reality, he's not saying that they don't trust him in a negative sense, he's saying all these rappers with good messages need to try to deal with the problem hands-on. If these people with the good messages make an effort in poor black areas by helping build schools, jobs, etc, the black community would be more likely to follow these good messages. I know it's a lot to ask but they should make their presence known and help lead communities.

I somehow didn't expect talib to come back with some great sh*t after the dissapointing beautiful struggle. "right about now" & "liberation" where signs he was back in the good direction but still i didn't expect much out of eardrum. I was pleasently surprised straight from the first listen, this sh*t is really good. He hooked up with an incredible crew of producers (madlib, kanye, pete rock, will.i.am, just blaze, hi-tek) and they deliver the goods for kweli to spit his raw heat. Kweli is focused on this, he does what he's supposed to do. He speaks on a whole variety of topics, this is political and human at the same time. He got he rid of his habit to abuse the word "like" which will please haters (altho it never really bothered me). You can feel the growth as an artist and this might be the album that will put him with the legends. There are no wack songs, this is an album that's playable front to back and i'm really proud of talib kweli for doing so. Eardrum defines what 2007 hip hop is... But where's the dilla track?

I somehow didn't expect talib to come back with some great sh*t after the dissapointing beautiful struggle. "right about now" & "liberation" where signs he was back in the good direction but still i didn't expect much out of eardrum. I was pleasently surprised straight from the first listen, this sh*t is really good. He hooked up with an incredible crew of producers (madlib, kanye, pete rock, will.i.am, just blaze, hi-tek) and they deliver the goods for kweli to spit his raw heat. Kweli is focused on this, he does what he's supposed to do. He speaks on a whole variety of topics, this is political and human at the same time. He got he rid of his habit to abuse the word "like" which will please haters (altho it never really bothered me). You can feel the growth as an artist and this might be the album that will put him with the legends. There are no wack songs, this is an album that's playable front to back and i'm really proud of talib kweli for doing so. Eardrum defines what 2007 hip hop is... But where's the dilla track?

I somehow didn't expect talib to come back with some great sh*t after the dissapointing beautiful struggle. "right about now" & "liberation" where signs he was back in the good direction but still i didn't expect much out of eardrum. I was pleasently surprised straight from the first listen, this sh*t is really good. He hooked up with an incredible crew of producers (madlib, kanye, pete rock, will.i.am, just blaze, hi-tek) and they deliver the goods for kweli to spit his raw heat. Kweli is focused on this, he does what he's supposed to do. He speaks on a whole variety of topics, this is political and human at the same time. He got he rid of his habit to abuse the word "like" which will please haters (altho it never really bothered me). You can feel the growth as an artist and this might be the album that will put him with the legends. There are no wack songs, this is an album that's playable front to back and i'm really proud of talib kweli for doing so. Eardrum defines what 2007 hip hop is... But where's the dilla track?

He aint got a good voice

The singing on that song "hell" is a chic named coi..the wife of terrace martin(who co.produced the track)...and the guy is quaze..aka quazedelic...whos part of snoop doggs traveling band... This song was originally titled "reap wut u sowe" and was originally released back in jan'06 on the street album titled "hustle 2 struggle" from an up-and-coming artist by the name of yung walt...which was executive produced by terrace martin and also features a few more of his tracks...you can check out walts version here - soundclick/yungwalt

honestly talib is good but his counterpart mos def is extreamely better. Common, tech,kanye,lupe,nas,pap,busta,all members of wu, qtip,pharoahe, jedi mind, the roots, are all amazing. Hip hop

Review says it all. My boy dropped off a bootleg before i could cop it. So on point, gotta buy just outta support of good music, never mind that kweli is always a definite buy anyways. Only comparable emcee on the mainstrem circuit is black thought for real.

My apologies, it's a best trio of kweli, thought and common!

Great album also cop the blu & exile album another hot one

Man talib aint sh*t he aint got sh*t on my nig*a t.i or my cuzzin lil wayne they got them real lyrics.... He gonna flop.... Support that real hip-hop plies. Yung joc . Gucci man, wayne , t.i ,jeezy all have the greatest lyrics in the game..

This album is hot. Wtf are u talkin about t.i. Or weezy has real lyrics? for fuc*s sake weezy raps about being a martian. Don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of weezy and t.i. But lyrically, they are not on the same level as kweli.

J the ace u dont sh*t about reall hip-hop d4l , dfb , rick ross ,plies , yung joc are real hip-hop artists

Obivously that fool was a flamer.... I'm pretty late jumpin on the kweli bandwagon, but i'm glad i jumped on anyway! and what was wrong w/ beautiful struggle? that was the first album i bought from him and i like it. I can't wait to cop this one now since i heard such good things about it! kweli has some type of appeal to me. I don't know what it is, cause he doesn't have the most attractive voice (or face for that matter), but for some reason i just enjoy listening to it! oh well. Peace and blessings ya'll!

All you gotta do is "listen" to this album...its amazing, kweli getts better and better everyday!!! redrocks ampithearte colorado august 22 and chicago august 26...ill be atboth shows!!!!!!!!!!

I been hearin stuff off this album and its fire but i need to kno if tha song level with styles p is on it cuz that song is fire

Man. Kweli being lyrically better than t.i., jeezy, and wayne is not even arguable. U can't compare them. They are 2 different kinds of hip-hop. The lil wayne and jeezy types are meant for the club and not meant to have thought provoking lyrics. Kweli on the other hand has purpose in his rhymes. He is trying to get a message out. I'm not hating on them, but those mainstream rappers that you mentioned are purely for entertainment purposes. Kweli's music is a lot more important, and necessary in times like these. The majority of people who listen to the mainstream rappers, are younger kids, who really don't know any better and can't really understand the complex rhymes of artists such as kweli, nas, wu-tang, and self scientific. It's very easy to make money off of rapping about money, clothes and hoes beacause kid's minds are not capable of listening to and interpreting more complex lyrics. So please, don't compare kweli to those guys. You are seriously offending the people who truly have a passion for this music.

This album is fire yo. Big looking out talib, you the F*ck*ng man. So many good tracks to rub one out to

I got the album and i must admit its pretty good. Kweli is def. Getting better as the years progress and he def. Has a spot on my top 5. I hope to see that his blacksmith label gets to moving to and im def. Looking foward to see wut they hav in store for the near future. If u love hip hop music then i strongly recommend eardrum

Talib is a real mc he's one of the few left representing real hiphop. This album is fire it has what the game is missing right now lyricism its too much garbage out right now

Im getting two. F*ck it. 3 copies of this album. Shit is hot.

Well said backpacker well said. I couldnt have said it any better....

Kweli is a grown man. Don't ever try to compare him with these lil weezies, lil boosie, lil whatevers. Cause little is what they want to be and shall be treated as such. That's disrespectful to compare. I have a small son and he will not be allowed to listen to the radio until there are more concious rappers played like kweli. Music is very powerful. If you don't think so think about how many times you said you didn't like a song when it was played on the radio. The first time was "this joint wack" after the third time you said" it's alright" after the 20th time you said " i like the beat" after the 100th time you said " this my song!" ... I love to dance, ask anyone. But that stuff need not be played over and over again (thanks playola) on my way to and fro work or whatever im doing. My everyday life is not a damn party. This music influences people which is not the artist fault but the listeners. However, don't be mad when some lil' wanksta comes and snatch your chain off your neck. (we won't name rappers). Peace.

... And i will be buying 2 copies of this album today so it don't flop bankhead423. Hater!

Agreed, talib has done a remarkable job with this album. And yes the beats and production is great, but the lyrics is what takes it to the next level

Talib done killed it, my soul needed this im tired of the industry n he jus came wit dat pure hip hop... Dis album is nuttin but fire......

Bankhead F*ck plies his cd was ass...1 good song outta how many u F*ck*n idiot 4 mentioning any of those rappers especially d4l....who bought that??...u the reason people get steriotyped as not knowing sh*t about music in da south......but im coppin =]]]

Kweli has the best lyrics of any mc right now. All his albums have been fire and eardrum is his best solo effort. He represents real hip hop. Bankhead u need to shut the f*ck up cause u dont know what ur talking bout

"kweli's music is a lot more important, and necessary in times like these. " i disagree. Music, imo, should not be some kind of depressing, conspiracy-ridden, semi-reality check. It should be an escape to a world that you can only dream of, where you flow like the mississippi over a david banner beat, with beautiful women and a bugatti at your side. A fantasy which can become reality, if you work hard, stay in school, perfect your craft, and share it with the world.

Talib is speaking from the heart. The game is overstaurated with fake thugs and wanna be ballers, it's pathetic. When nas said hip-hop is dead some artists took offense to it. But you see a real artist doesn't complain, he raises the bar and that's what my man did. Please do not compare this man to any of these mainstream rappers because i could randomly pick 1 verse from this album that would absoltely destroy one of these mainstream artists entire rhymebook...

You east coast boys are lame! you all say hip hop is dead just cuz you biitches dont own it anymore!!! somebody please come out and admit it finally!!! just cuz the only hip hop getting attention is from the dirty and its about some shiit you cats cant comprehend doesnt make it dead! everybody got sick of yaw talkin about timberland's and fitted yankee caps - we want club bangers!!! don't believe me; then look at the sales! so quit complaining and jumping on the back of every easterner to come out like he's the next great hope. You can keep waiting for kweli and everybody else to resurrect that side, like everyone in cali is hoping the game will do - but that's all you're gonna do ... Is keep on waiting! that being said - this album is actually pretty straight!

Record sales is not an accurate depiction on who the best rapper, or lyricist rather, is. It definitely shows you who is easily marketable. But how difficult is it to market to the masses? everyone knows you have to dumb down your message if u want to reach the greatest # of people, and that's true in any situation (including music)...not taking away from the money-making abilities of a lot of "rappers" gettin air-time, cuz i mean that's ulitimately what it's about for most of em, the money (just ask em). But for real lyricists (talib being one of them), it is not just about the money (coupled with drugs, alcohol and sex), though that is a definite perk, but about life in general...the successes and pitfalls, good and bad, the real and the fake. However most people are gonna miss that message cuz they're too busy listenin to dumbed down lyrics about money or material things or lifestyles they'll never experience. Dont get me wrong, i'll dance to the random "fun-beat" rap song, but i would never consider the rapper a good lyricist. You like your music for different reasons, every thing has its place. But lets not confuse the cause and effects of great lyricists and good messages with catchy hooks and trendy dances...

This cd if wack yall fools better cop that new soulja boy album.. It will change your life for ever beleive me it real

I feel bad for most of my peoples posting their comments and "judgment" except for my man e.p.b who is possibly one of the few who getz it.it`s not about black,white or whatever the color you were blessed with it's about understanding building forward supporting sharing ideas and making it better for our love ones.hip hop feeds so many people on adaily basis man F*ck the united nations and a politician cause of hip hop sh*t crime rate in amerikka is at a low it could be lower but then how would police officers make living' think about it.even my man malcom found that out on his long trip to mecca thanks spike.keep it moving all producers, mcees,moguls whatever from north,south,east,and west. Peace!

I feel bad for most of my peoples posting their comments and "judgment" except for my man e.p.b who is possibly one of the few who getz it.it`s not about black,white or whatever the color you were blessed with it's about understanding building forward supporting sharing ideas and making it better for our love ones.hip hop feeds so many people on adaily basis man F*ck the united nations and a politician cause of hip hop sh*t crime rate in amerikka is at a low it could be lower but then how would police officers make living' think about it.even my man malcom found that out on his long trip to mecca thanks spike.keep it moving all producers, mcees,moguls whatever from north,south,east,and west. Peace!

Following talib's work ever since black star when he was rocking it with mos def......i speak of music like respiration and definition .... Just to name a few i mean it may take more than my fingers can type honestly to illuminate on the splendor talib presents everytime he blesses the mic..his track listings dont do justice to his amazing work. But he is without a doubt one of the greatest emcees to ever pick up a mic but what do i know....im just a designer from va. I dont think we speak of talib here though...i think we speak of hiphop and whats our definition of good music. Dont hate on an artist cuz he from the west coast or east coast or south or even canada. Good music is good music cuzin. Thier is nothing wrong with soulja boy, franchise boyz, and other dance type artists. They are fun. They illuminate on the dance aspect no so much the poppin guns and violence and degrading aspect or atleast its not present in the hook. Its up to you if you want to listen to it religiously. The issue is hip hop has become a interchangable commodity that is no longer speaking the voice of the people minority in economical sense but majority in conscensus only telling half the story. It only tells of negative actions no positivity to uplift its people. Public enemy, mc lyte, queen latifah, dead prez, nas, rakim, common, roots, lupe fiasco, krs, etc...the list goes on........i commend artists who dont talk about Bia'ches and hoes crack sales and such negative regulators of a society for 13 tracks on thier

....cd who understand in a generation where parents are less educated than their children music and media serves as the abusive babysitter of our youth and are taking a responsibility not to retard any longer our generation going into the coming years. Da south is much alive and have been cranking good music too to cover some points that were said earlier. Groups like oukast, goodie mob,scarface, master p to name a few and the west coast dre, snoop, cube,easy e, quick .....just the ones i remember off the bat laid important ground work and should be commended. New cat, plies's album had some great tracks on the cd that were real as hell despite his radio play shawtyyyyyyyyyy that dont do much justice to his work. (plies, the real testament - 11 - kept it too real) the issues we all talk about here and argue about is change. Hip hop is change. Hiphop tells story of a group of people that so happen to be majority black but have harbored the negative influences attached with it because the media has told you so..... But funny how we often pass that their are poor whites who lack the same education in certain areas of the us as well from a failed american government but we dont necessarily talk about them and thier negative habitst. Or the dirty politician or agent who embezles money from insurance company and doesnt help those in great need in disaster. Or fema putting katrina victims in molding trailers with limited resources. Yet we are the richest nation in the world. Or how in the beginning it

.........it was not just black people that were at the forefront of hiphop but hispanics and some whites as well with roots in ny  among other places. We often forget when talib was making appearances to schools and performing majority of his audience was white. I dont believe that some whites listen to real hip hop because they want to be down...they listen to the messages and want change just as much as blacks or other minority (by society standards) do. Question is how do you get to that positioning. Hiphop  has been brought down due to lack of education.....adequate resources...etc in america...why else do you think it started here in america. No art and music in schools back in late 70's and early 80's even now in certain areas of the country with failed education system. It just so happens this is a direct influence of american capitalistic society not holding its end of the bargain for its people. But out of the government's destruction we have created something beautiful. Hip hop then again the constitution was not written for the minority...financially speaking.....it is more a class system whether we choose to ignore that point or not. Just so happens the faces of these people are majority not of the white race. That having much to do with the events in history in our american past as well as personal self responsibility. Thaddeus stevens can vouch. Hip hop is gabriel prosser, nat turner..john brown (who was white), the rebellion against the system seeking change and understanding by a

Any means necessary on all levels not just society change but how we interact with each other. Talib- brown skin lady funny how we degrade women in songs... We forget that women are the heads of firms....multibillion dollar companies, etc. But the music promotes to talk to them like b's and ho's and get them to shake ass...so a young man of course gonna go out and holla at women with F*cked up speech pattern in the street. This aint hip hop yall. Cant talk to a lawyer or even a respectable women like "hey bey bey..e here shawty let me holla at ya.....no number F*ck u then b$%^h" i hear that s@#%t more than u think. Media say black men lazy as hell and some more s%$t and music we listen to is attributed to that. Don imus blame hip hop for what he say bout them girls in rutgers "nappy headed ho's". Man hip hop get beat up but still keep it moving and tickin. We got to inspire with music main. Talib does that beautifully. Spark that light in cats who heart dead because america done f@#%d em over so bad and its hard to get up. Type of sh*t that changes a man's heart to get up out the game. Love his kids, or get ol girl to get a job and provide for her kids not laying up under some man. Stop war......better education. Etc hip hop is the voice of this damaged representation a people who voice was not heard even ignored....thus hip hop is graffit, dance, djing, fashion, attitude, your walk, your talk, you...a acquired soul if you will. The voice of the unheard. This was the original intent.....somehow

.......because a situation that stayed stagnant for some time and progressively worst more and more artist started seeing a gain..money to be made talking about nothing, F*ck*n hoes and serving rocks, poppin guns, destruction. We have become use to destruction in our genre of music. So no i dont think its a white or black thing. Tha gate keepers of the music industry are corrupt and i dont think they look like me (black), people over the owners and the producers of these record labels. Spike lee talked about it at our college...the same things are present in movie industry. Denzel had to be a nicca before he won an oscar....hall berry had to f$%k an old white man before she got one despite all of thier great work prior and these weren't even that great a movies compared to thier earlier work. Its the same in the music industry. We got to sell our souls and degrade before we see the cash. But is money that important? hip hop today only thinks of itself not the greater good. Its very selfish. Ti said it best "what you waiting for do it. Big things poppin...little things stoppin" got to make it. Its nothing wrong with us as a people white or black....there is something wrong with the media and the gatekeepers of what we listen to and view. Thanks talib for everything you have done for hip hop and our culture.

Kweli is one of the best unknowns it's sad to say he may never even get 500,000 units sold no matter how good he is. Even when he grows up and shows how good he is as an mc he doesn't get the respect he deserves, nor the attention many garbage rappers get.

The cd is alright. The lyrics are tight but the music production is whack!!! i'm from the dirty. I love straight lyrics but you gotta bring the bang muscially too. There's no bang to go along with the tight lyrics. Holla!!!

Good

this cd is what real hip hop is all about .we listen to meaningless lyrics from these other artist no message no knowledge...jus money clothes cars hoes jewels..what about how are race is becoming extinct from a deadly epidemic,how the government is getting even more devilish and keeping the race down. Kweli brought some heat this go around ..its smashing both kanye & 50's album ...yall but that in ya blunts and smoke it...one

Oops i meant put that in ya blunt and smoke it ,,,,

I coped talibs album cuz i knew it would be good. Its easily the best of 2007 so far, because it is absent of any whack songs, can be played all the way through whether your workin, smoking bud, or F*ck*n and because there is something for everyone in the rap audience. If you haven't bought it yet, then go get it, i assure you there's no way you won't like it, unless your a F*ck*ng schmuk

The eardrum album is straight fire. But i think it took too long 4 the album to finally drop, and i think thats what effected sales.........along with the computer.

Talib is the greatest mc alive.....uncomparable...doing it for da luv of d game not for cash....he only spits sense ma man..