I vote that Kweli never ever gets his mack on please

For Talib Kweli's latest, I almost wish there was something I could just run my review of Common's new album through, to make it say the opposite of what it does now. In fact, if ya just head over there and switch all my pros into cons, "Common" with "Talib Kweli" -- voila, my Eardrum review.











Aight, fine. But ya know I had to find a sketchy reason to plug one of my reviews at some point.

What I'm gettin' at with these albums bein' opposites of sorts, to lay it out real simple, is that there's effective ways to do relaxed, serious hip hop, and not-so-effective ways. Now, I probably couldn't quite explain to ya exactly what it is that makes certain laid-back rap music appeal to me, but whatever it is, Eardrum lacks that element. For all the big-name producers Kweli has on-hand here -- Kanye West, Just Blaze and will.i.am to name a few -- the beats just fall flat. It's an album that has the potential to be good, and may look alright on paper, but never seems to take off.

While my primary problem here is with the underwhelming beat selection, I got my share of issues with Kweli as well. There's several moments throughout the album where his flow comes off as rushed and awkward -- I'd describe it as a style where he's tryin' to fit a bunch of multisyllabic rhymes into too few bars, at the expense of a smooth flow. He doesn't always seem to be paying attention to how he's working with the individual beats he's given, which is a detriment to lyrics that may've sounded OK if they were just delivered better.

I could leave it at "good lyrics, bad delivery and beats," but jez cuz I don't think I've bagged on dude enough already, I can't let him off the hook on lyrics either. Eardrum covers a lotta different ground -- Kweli not wanting to be pigeonholed as a backpacker, Kweli smackin' y'all around with battle raps, Kweli spitting "game" to the ladies, and Kweli pointin' out the fascinating (and obvious) fact that Jesus was Jewish. OK OK, to be fair I'm kinda takin' that last one outta context, but stay with me here. A couple of these themes just plain don't fit dude well -- and I'd call out the loverman tracks as the biggest mistakes. The borderline smooth jazz mush of "In the Mood" and "Soon the New Day," as well as the dull old-school jazzy vibe of "Hot Thing," approach "rap for your parents who hate rap" territory. That is, if your parents can get past some of Kweli's cheesy lyrics on said songs.

Not that I'm against rap that crazy younguns and cranky old heads can enjoy in peace love and harmony, by the way. It's just that Kweli's tryin'-a-little-too-hard-to-be-sweet tracks here lack punch, if ya will. Oomph. Pizzazz...alright, now I'm jez soundin' weird.

Kweli does have his (relatively) more aggressive moments here too, such as the in-your-face "Say Something," but the monotonous thump of that song is only vaguely redeemed by guest femcee Jean Grae, who comes off harder than Kweli. Actually, no matter what type of song we're talkin' about, boring production is a persistent problem through just about the whole album -- whether its Hi-Tek's funeral dirge of a beat on the plodding "More or Less" (not helped by Kweli's lazy rapping,) Just Blaze's surprisingly ineffective gospel-infused production on "Hostile Gospel Pt. 1," or the obnoxiously repetitive sing-songy production on (I'd say ironic but that's too obvious) "The Perfect Beat." That last one is probably the worst offender here, as tired performances from Kweli and KRS-One (sorry KRS, ya ain't winnin' any converts to "real rap" spittin' over somethin' like this) drag it down even further.

Even when Kweli does sound more inspired on the lyrical tip, the beats don't do him any favors. No doubt some'll find "Eat to Live" and the children-dedicated "Oh My Stars" to be syrupy or forced, but I think Kweli's focused delivery prevents the lyrics from falling into that trap, despite an eye-rolling intro on "Stars." Thing is, neither of the beats do anything for me. There's no vibrancy in 'em, nothin' to match the sentiment of Kweli's raps.

If there's one prominent exception on Eardrum that manages to achieve a chill (Trey's favorite word) vibe without being boring, it's the "Country Cousins" collabo with UGK. Lazy guitar-strumming and horn blasts here provide the perfect backdrop for Kweli and UGK to wax nostalgic over, and I dunno what it is about these guys, but they seem to get Kweli to step his game up, as he kicks a nice sped-up flow here. Bonus track "The Nature" with Justin Timberlake, while nothing amazing, is also a highlight relative to the rest of the album. While I'm shocked and appalled that Timbaland and Danjahandz weren't invited into the studio for this one, JT himself provides an effectively downbeat funky track and some vocals on the hook that complement Kweli's soul-searching well.

In the end though, Eardrum's just missing the spark it needs to make it interesting. While Kweli definitely needs to tighten up his rappin' style, his number-one priority next time around should be getting better production, as I'd probably be able to overlook some of his missteps here if he had potent beats backin' him up. For now? I'd look elsewhere if you're fiendin' for your grown-man rap fix.