Talib Kweli and Madlib – Liberation
On Liberation, Talib Kweli's tag-team underground effort with West Coast stalwart Madlib, the BK backpack rap champion is learning a golden lesson: the mainstream isn't made for everyone. And, likewise, everyone isn't welcome to the mainstream. A lesson he learned either after the masses auction of 2002's "Get By†or before its twin two years later, "I Tryâ€. Kweli's rhymes have been evicted tenants, because let's face it, mainstream is a lousy landlord. Inhabiting the underground, Kweli never sounds a bit removed or homesick on Liberation, praising his family nucleus on "Happy Homeâ€. But he is still disturbed by mainstream's property, so keeps an eye out for the stakeholders, (we need some new leaders/politicians is lying/the artists is true divas) on "Over the Counterâ€.
As a producer, Madlib is an underground staple, but on Liberation he plays more of the role of a the scientist, with daringly refreshing beats. Caught in-between bluesy, bright-tinted, by-the-shore fuzzy, jazzy atoms and industrious instrumental experiments, he serves up a lovely potion for Kweli to drink and spill over his rhymes. The partnership is successful. It looks like mainstream maybe visiting Kweli in the underground, soon. - Rodney Dugue
Songs Mentioned
"Happy Home" - Talib Kweli with Madlib featuring Candice Anderson
"Over The Counter" - Talib Kweli with Madlib