Reflection Eternal - Back Again [Talib Kweli] from Radio Planet on Vimeo

Kweli and Hi Tek back with a new single and video.

I can't decide how I feel about this single. It's the first time that one of his first singles hasn't had him doing the hook, which isn't that important, but it just isn't as catchy as songs like "The Real Slim Shady." The guy can clearly still write rhymes, but he just doesn't seem to have the fire for rap that he used to. Furthermore, he's still making kids music, but his fans aren't kids anymore. He'll go platinum because he's Eminem, but I think he's done being the biggest music artist in the country.

For students familiar with the program trying to get information about their major, this site is very direct and helpful. It contains course summaries and succinct requirements for each of its programs. This site does a very good job of helping and informing its own community. However, the further outside that community you are, the less helpful it becomes. Trying to find courses in English that deal with a general subject is difficult. I’d recommend removing those topics from the .word format into an .html page and creating a table of contents with one sentence descriptions of courses. Finally, the site does not go far to entice people to join the program. It seems to be almost entirely devoted to people already dealing with it. I’d consider creating another tab on the top titled “Join the English Department” or similar. The tab would deal with recruiting and helping students outside the major see what’s good about it – with links to the adviser’s information should they want to talk to a live person.

So I wanted to make a mixtape that was different than any of my previous mixtapes. Paint A Picture and Hate Is The New Love were my first two when I was just the young, hungry rapper from MD by way of DC. I was just trying to show I could spit. I truthfully had no direction, I just wanted people to hear me. 100 Miles & Running was after I hired a manager and linked up with Catchdubs, so we went about creating something a little more cohesive showing I could create “intelligent” rap but it was just my mellow mood; some chill ****. The Mixtape About Nothing was showing that I could do a concept album/mixtape. I appreciate the love and critical acclaim I have gotten for it but Back To The Feature is taking it back to the fun days in hip hop when artists worked with each other for the love and not for the checks or politics. It’s an easy listen; no controversy, no dramatic records. It’s pure hip hop from artists that love to listen to. It’s collaborations with me and other artists like Joe Budden, Currensy, Joell Ortiz, Tre frm UCB, Drake, Bun B, J Cole, Talib Kweli, Royce the 5′9″, XO, Kenn Starr and many others.

For those who don't know, Wale is probably the hottest rapper out without an album. This will drop April 29th, check back here for the link.

Here is an explanation of my album/mixtape ratings:

Beats – A rating of the sound of the album. This also includes the artist as a vocalist. For example, TI might not be as good a lyricist as KRS-One. But one of the reasons he has more hits right now is because he knows how to use his voice with the beat. How on-beat an artist is, his vocal tone, pace, etc. Any singing is also included here.

Rhymes – A review of the album as it would read. I’m ignoring all sonic implications and just evaluating the lyrics. Rhyme schemes and patterns, rhetoric, subject and poetic skill all factor into this. I’m also taking into account the topics the bring up and how well they handle them. For example, if a rapper has 18 songs that are all about his chain, but he approaches it from a different viewpoint each time (going through its history, visual appearance, metaphorical significance, etc) and doing it well, he could conceivable get a ten. But if a rapper does 18 songs about different topics but I’ve heard it all before and done better, he’s not going to get that high of a score.

Originality – Or uniqueness. How well does the album/mixtape stand on its own? Does it break from the formula’s of the genre/time period it’s in?

Consistency – How well does the album/mixtape sound as a straight-through listen? It’s a particularly hard job to make an album where the songs are different enough to stand out yet similar enough not to be jarring. The quality of the songs should be fairly consistent, but an album with mostly good songs and a few great ones will fair better than an album that is consistently mediocre.

Total Score: An average of the other four.

Don't piss him off, or this will happen...

It’s no exaggeration to call K’Naan a hip hop troubadour. Born in Somalia with a family full of poets, musicians and intellectuals, K’Naan came to the U.S. during the Somali Civil War. He didn’t know English, so he taught himself to speak through Nas and Rakim albums.

All this gives K’Naan (and Troubadour) a completely unique venue through which he expresses himself. He can sing, rap (in different languages), and play the guitar or drums on the same song. He classifies himself as a visual stenographer, and his story – which includes a close encounter with a grenade at the age of seven – makes the danger tales of most gangsta rappers look trifling by comparison.

That has two effects on Troubadour. The first is that the album is a brilliant collage of sounds, genres and experiences. It’s immediately clear that K’Naan just doesn’t have the same restrictions most rappers place on themselves. As he declares in If Rap Gets Jealous, “with respect to the rules of the game, they don’t apply ‘cause I made this far.” For most artists, the would be a meaningless boast, but when he’s singing this with Metallica’s guitarist right after guest spots from Damian Marley and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, you have to take him seriously.

The second effect K’Naan’s vast experience has on Troubadour is that the album can sound like a mess, especially at first. Sonically, this album is all over the place, and does just about everything except quiet. After a few listens, when the songs start to separate themselves, the ride K’Naan takes us on is exhilarating. But when his musical influences are shifting from Africa to Jamaica to pop to hard rock to straight hip hop, it’s hard not to be frustrated. This isn’t an album that many will love from the beginning.

Nonetheless, Troubadour is well worth the struggle. There are few things in music that are more beautiful than an artist who takes both pride and joy in his craft, and it’s clear that K’Naan does. He’s talented enough that his forays into different sounds come off as completely natural, and while he mostly raps, his singing is just as good. He has a good feel for hooks and his ability to tell a story is amazing.

That latter ability, as much as anything, sets this album completely apart. He manages to tell the story of his first crush Fatima, who he lost to war, in a way that is catchy and joyous without ever feeling sorry for himself. Troubadour starts with a bang that keeps up for a solid 30-40 minutes before mellowing out with songs like these, where K’Naan slows down and takes a more somber look at his life. What’s unique about K’Naan is that as the songs slow, they become even more anthemic.

Troubadour takes us on a ride through continents and time. It’s an album that is completely exhilarating, and yet every song is completely worthwhile. In hip hop, we’re accustomed to everybody whining about something. It’s eye-opening that somebody with a life as hard as K’Naan’s can tell us in all sincerity that he has “nothing to complain about.” That’s an attitude that’s prevalent throughout the album, and K’Naan takes us on a ride that, through all its bumps and bruises, is ultimately a joy.

Rating	Description
(Out of Ten)	Explantion of Ratings
8.5	Beats The music is great, but can be jarring at first - the early rock and african influences, combined with K'Naan high-pitched rap voice make it almost annoying at first. After a few listens to sort the songs out and get used to the sound, the depth and personality of the production wins out.
9.5	Rhymes K'naan is a pretty good lyricist, but what sets him apart is his personal story and the joy with which he delivers it. A little more vulnerability would be nice, but it's hard to find much to complain about here.
9.0	Originality To put it simply, this sound different from anything out there. This is one of those allbums you show to people who say hip hop isn't music.
9.0	Consistency All of the songs are good. Not all are great, and a couple of the transitions are jarring. Also, slowdown of the album near the end is a little hard to come down to.
9.0	Total Score