Talib Kweli----Prisoner of Conscious

Talib Kweli-Prisoner of Conscious-Nature EMI-(2013)

Artist: Talib Kweli

Album: Prisoner of Conscious

Label: Javotti Media, EMI, Capitol

Producers: Oh No, RZA, Sean C. & LV, J. Cole, others   

Talib Kweli has paid his dues for the longest. From the Black Starr projects, Reflection Eternal to his solo albums, Talib Kweli put his work down for the longest. There is a method into Talib Kweli’s message which is mostly political. A few mixtapes has still made his name relevant. Now with the new album “Prisoner of Conscious”, can Kweli keep up with the ongoing changes of music?

            We all know that he is known for his conscious lyrical content. The beginning of the album starts very strong. “Human Mic” brings out the old Talib with his slick wordplay. What Talib puts together on this album is musical chemistry that brings out his guest appearances. “Favela Love” and “Come Here” matches perfectly with artists such as Miguel and Seu Jorge. Moreover, “Come Here” bridges the hip hop and soulful singing to a tee. The RZA produced “Rocket Ships” brings out the energy out of Talib and Busta Rhymes to make this a compatible track.

            Somewhere, the beats on this album can get lost at times. As the album starts to progress, the middle tracks dwindle the momentum of the album knocking it off balance. Starting with tracks like “Hamster Wheel” and “Delicate Flowers” that suffer from bland mediocre production. High Life” and “Upper Echelon” are generic album fillers that don’t bring the excitement. “Push Thru” sucks out the energy out of the listener despite the strong lyrics from Kendrick Lamar while the gospel piano infused “Before He Walked” featuring Nelly and Abby Dobson is too unbearable to listen to with the annoying knocking bassline. Although Nelly tries to shine: I’m from a small city, but I have big dreams/has some good ideas, but I got better schemes, this track should not even be on the album.

            Although not a classic, a solid album can be describe at its best. Talib has diverse subject matter and some tracks do shine. For instance, respecting females on “Delicate Flowers”, a radio friendly collaboration that works well on “Come Here”, the political knockout punch on “Human Mic” and the conceited lyrical content: No one as gifted as this/I’m magnificent/Classically consistent/I’m nasty as black licorice on “Hold It Now”.  Where the album begins to lose it course? Some tracks are inconsistent with monotonous production that allows you to press the skip button. However, some of the guest appearances blend well with Talib’s delivery. It’s apparent that some of the songs supersede others by far. Needless to say, Talib is still the emcee that many people will love to have on their projects. Prisoner of Conscious brings out many elements and introduces to some new ones. Question is will you be free out of your conscious. Only the listeners will answer that question.

            Strong Tracks: “Human Mic”, “Come Here”, “Favela Love”,, “Outstanding”, “Turnt Up”

            Average Tracks: “Hold It Now”, “High Life”, “Upper Echelon”, “Rocket Ships”

            Weak Tracks:  “Before He Walked”, “Push Thru”, “Hamster Wheel”, “Dedicate Flowers”

            Rating:out of