Talib Kweli------Gravitas

Talib Kweli-Gravitas-----(2013)

Artist: Talib Kweli

Album: Gravitas

Label: Javotti Media

Producer: Khyrsis, Statik Selektah, Oh No, Lord Quest, Thaddeus Dixon, others

Talib Kweli has putting in work this year and has not been a disappointment. A legend in the game, Talib knows how to put out a song and also eat up a track with fiery 16’s. The audience gravitates to Talib’s stage presence. Already with Prisoners of Conscious out and has good reviews, Talib Kweli hits you with his second album of the year Gravitas.

            Gravitas starts off the right way with the North Carolina’s Khyrsis gem with Inner Monologue which has a thought provoking skit about art and life before the keyboard/piano beat comes in. Talib takes it back to where lyrics matter as much as the beat as he spits about emcees are treated more like products than people. Producer Lord Quest brings on the heat and carries the energy for Talib and Big K.R.I.T to body on Dermonology while State of Grace provides the cool guitar beat with a nice drum sound for Talib to command the track. Talib gets to his zone and Rare Portraits feels like the refreshing days with Hi-Tek where Kweli spits about his come up in the game. The guest appearances complement with Talib Kweli’s lyrical cadence. New Leaders is a commanding take charge track with a marching sound produced by Statik Selektah where Talib joins forces with Flatbush’s duo The Underachievers while Violators he trade blows with Shaolin’s finest Raekwon and Art Imitates Life Oh No delivers a hard drum pattern and a swirling piano beat for Talib to rip the mic with Rah-Digga, ALBE.Back and Philly’s underrated spitter Black Thought of the roots.

            Gravitas brings the uplift where hip hop never died, it just needed a fixing. It’s cohesive and stronger than Prisoners of Conscious Talib knows how to pick the right producers and guest appearances to gel well with his delivery. This is what hip hop needs right now and Gravitas hits hard with a 21^st century of lyrics and hi quality production without going sounding too much of the boom bap golden era sound but taking bits and pieces and added flair to it. What Gravitas bring to the table is subject matter which makes this album listenable and not limited. From the Illuminati stories in Wormhole, his come up in Rare Portraits, needing new leaders to represent hip hop in New Leaders to rapping on that cool vibe in Colors of You, this album brings great taste with high dosage of lyrical energy. This is the album that shouldn’t be slept on, a great album from start to finish.

            Strong Tracks: “Inner Monologue”, “Dermonology”,” New Leaders”, “State of Grace”, “Art Imitates Life”, “Violators “Rare Portraits”, “Colors of You”

            Rating:out of