Reviews
Talib Kweli, Hi-Tek Return As Reflection Eternal For Revolutions Per Minute
Loading ...It’s been ten years since Brooklyn bred rapper Talib Kweli joined with producer and DJ Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal and brought us the widely praised album Train of Thought. So here we are in 2010, and the duo has joined forces again to craft a followup, seventeen tracks packaged together in an album entitled Revolutions Per Minute. In an attempt to recapture the magic they brought to the table in 2000, they continue to fuse Brooklyn style with Cincinnati flavor, coming up fresh, strong, and courageous on Revolutions Per Minute.
On Revolutions Per Minute, Kweli sticks to his formula of rapping about politics, the state of hip hop, and the mentality of the urban inner city population. But times have changed, so Kweli focuses on topics such as America’s first black president, the economic recession the the world has experienced, and reinforces the message that, regardless of a black president, things haven’t gotten any easier (on songs such as Strangers (Paranoid)).
How would an artist express his unique creativity and flow and stand out from many of today’s top rap artists without a producer and collaborator who can match beats and wits to with the artist’s flow and flavor? That’s where Hi-Tek comes in, blending together sounds from the underground rap scene, modern hip hop, old school soul reminiscent of Sam Cooke, and on some tracks, like Back Again, heavy African drum beats. Of the fifteen tracks on Reflection Eternal, the five that stand out the most are Back Again, Strangers (Paranoid), In the Red, In This World, and City Playgrounds.
The album features Bun B, Jay Electronica, J.Cole, Mos Def, Chester French, Bilal and Estelle. Bun’s lyrics and delivery fit seamlessly in Strangers(Paranoid). He flows at a pace to match that of an uptempo Kweli, both complimented by Hi Tek’s distinct horn accompaniment. On Just Begun, Kweli is joined by Jay Electronica, Mos Def, and J. Cole. All the rappers flow well together, but with Jay Electronica’s storytelling delivery and Mos Def’s verse standing out, the song becomes a collaboration rather than a song with featured artists. Kweli’s track with Estelle Midnight Hour seems to be the most unique of the album with more of the feel geared towards Estelle’s style of music rather than Kweli’s, but it fits in with the old school soul style beats on other parts of the album.
City Playgrounds, a song about the reunion of Kweli and Hi-Tek, hearkens back to Kweli’s roots, boasting about his status as a different rapper, a cut above the rest. The message he wants to convey is “think for yourself, be an individual,” all the while, stressing the importance of never giving in to defeat. On Back Again Kweli, focuses in on his return and the state of hip hop, as he has done on Train of Thought, and calls for something new in the rap industry.
Though it’s been ten years since Kweli and Hi-Tek came together and helped influence a change in the Soulquarian rap music with Revolutions Per Minute, it’s evident that with the release of this album it will draw in more listeners to the Soulquarian sound. The production is unique and honest and shows that Kweli and Hi Tek’s sound have certainly grown stronger and more diversified from the previous Train of Thought.
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