Prisoner Of Conscious
For Talib Kweli, songs like "Definition" and "Get By" still deserve all the adulation they inspire. However, on his new Prisoner of Conscious, the 37-year-old founding father of conscious-rap is now acknowledging his own antiquity.
If Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli really is a Prisoner of Conscious, as the title to his 2013 album suggests, then of course radio-aimed crossover numbers are the proper way to make a jailbreak, so bring on T-Pain and Weezy and start climbing those charts.
Talib Kweli's new album features guest appearances from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Busta Rhymes, with beats from a wealth of up and coming producers like Oh No, S1 and LV, and with a very special cut provided by RZA. Kweli himself avoids the sometimes evangelical delivery that characterised his early records. There are reflections on what it takes to be a man, on hip-hop culture, and on love, but they lack the philosophical depth and restless, crusading passion of his early work for the most part
Some 15 years after helping to lead the Rawkus charge, quickly establishing himself as an underground hero of consciousness in the process, Talib Kweli has finally taken a solid shot at the "pay me" record he's hinted at here and there throughout his surprisingly consistent career.
Prisoner of Conscious is a volley of rhymes that run from word association to extended polemics.