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Right - ahem - this was an LP I was desperate to hear after catchin' the Fortified Live 12" and The Manifesto off Lyricist Lounge One. So I was coming with a pretty biased positive standpoint but wanted to know what has gone down in dynamics of the Kweli n' Hi-tek partnership across the years since then. I liked Blackstar in a patchy way. I wasnt exactly loving The Express 12". But I like this LP - eeerrrr its called Train of Thought and yeah I like it but dont love it. Nice - an easy review. Errr nah not really - cos like I said I was expecting much much more. Talib Kweli comes with his usual extra clear diction and rhythmical flow - giving it the wordplay and poetic use of simile and that other long word which means making bigger pictures with words. His rhymes are honed nicely and work up a good sweat by mulling over many issues - mainly involving his understanding of the supposed purity of indie hiphop, social injustices and trying to be giving out positive messages for african americans peoples. So that part of his persona makes for mainly concious rootsical lyrics and in there he does this without lapsing into too much restoration of mad cliches and definitely no gangsta wannabe posturing at all. BUT - he's always going to be the rapper your Aunt asks about at Xmas... so when he tries to step with the battle rhymes it simply doesnt work - put it this way - your Gran will laugh till she swallows her teeth. The geezers voice plainly doesnt hold it in that form of rhyme. Anyways - that aside I like him n' when all of this Kweli wickedness is underscored by Hi-Tek who put simply - creates BEATS - I was still positive. Hi-tek makes pure beats. Nice beats but not crunching beats. I like his style - snapping snares n' round warm bellyful bass - it all melts through the speakers together to fill a room n' therefore heats up the edges of your ears like your nan's wooly earmuffs (she dont need 'em she died laughing when Kweli said he was gonna chop a wack mc's neck with the mic cord). Anyways Hitek comes sometimes understated/smooth and othertimes hard/bouncin but always sheer quality. The beats are loud and are mastered to perfection so when you turn it up loud it just reveals more sound. On the negative - theres some lame bits between the tracks with appearances by Lennox Lewis which seem totally pointless n' mighty shit - theres also a little bit with Gil Scott Heron where he just says Hi I'm blah blah and this is Kweli's album. A bit of a waste perhaps??? I think so. Theres also a pretty poor opening track - which to me was unneccesary as its a nice beat for rhyming over but never kicks off at all and totally takes the flow out of the LP from the get-go and truly is a bit of letdown with some poor statements. Really its unnecessary as after The Manifesto we know the mans stand on the hiphop game before this LP. But thats being over critical - cos before this I was totally blown away by first skit of the album having the WORST (bar none) impression of Nelson Mandela ever - and if it is him then he sounds like some bogus voice extra from the Star Wars band or perhaps I mean a hand model from an Oil of Ulay ad - I dont care - IT AINT HIM!!!!! Hi-Tek n' Kweli could be a proper dynamic duo smashing it. But instead they've made a nice nice nice mainstream semi-concious and semi-politicised LP - which is extra super BOOM in places but does lose steam over the course of the twenty tracks. However, this lack of sparkle doesnt happen for extended periods - SO mainly the wordplay is smart n' the beats remain hot. Check it - probably I'm a biased twat who views havent developed as the artists have obviously developed since 1997 - BUT still I'm slightly disappointed. You know what? I think I just want A LOT more bite in my music. P.S. I should just apologise - I never mentioned one track name or one guest or one description. Errrr if I did then this would get stupid long like my Raw Materials 2 review. I think you best go down HMV and listen to it for yourself yeh!!!!
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Reflection Eternal Train of Thought
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