Customer Reviews

Quality

5 star:		(130)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is a dope album. No, it's not a classic, but every album isn't going to be. It would be silly to expect them all to be classics. And I can't for the life of me understand why people expected to hear another "Train Of Thought" LP when this isn't a Reflection Eternal album.....it's a Talib Kweli album. There's a lot of whining about how Talib didn't make a classic and there are others crying because Talib didn't make another "Train of Thought" LP or because he didn't collab with Mos to drop another Black Star album. Or you have those that are swinging from DJ Hi Tek's nuts as if he's the only producer that Talib Kweli is allowed to work with. And let me tell you folks, none of these reviews are accurate.....not even close. "Quality" is a dope album. How anybody could deny the heat that Kweli brought on tracks like "Rush", "Shock Body", "Get By", "Good To You", or "Guerrilla Monsoon Rap" feat. Black Thought & Pharoahe Monche is completely beyond me. These songs are beyond hot. Even when Talib slows it down on tracks like "Won't You Stay" feat. Kendra Ross, "Where Do We Go feat. Res, or "Talk To You" feat. Bilal he still manages to come off as tight as ever. There are even classic Talib Kweli tracks on here like "The Proud" and "Stand To The Side" feat. Novel & Vinia Mojica.

In fact, the only slip ups on the entire album come on tracks like "Waiting For The DJ" feat. Bilal, "Put It In The Air" feat. DJ Quik, and "Gun Music" feat. Cocoa Brovaz. And you know what, those tracks aren't even wack, they're just blatantly out of place on this album. If they were on a compilation album or a movie soundtrack half of these same naysayers would be singing Talib's praises.

This album is just as good as (if not better than) any rap release of 2002. There are NO wack tracks on this album. There are some "different" tracks, but people need to understand that different doesn't automatically mean bad all of the time. Different means just that......different. Those of you that give an album or artist a chance to expand their talents and listen with an open mind without trying to pigeonhole them will love this album. If you're expecting a Reflection Eternal or Black Star album (though this IS a solo album) and you just insist upon Kweli sounding the same way he did almost 6 years ago (yeah, it's been that long since the Black Star LP), then pass on this one today and come back to it when you're a little more receptive to change. I will garauntee you this though.....if Black Star does manage to get together and put another album out, it will NOT sound like their 1st album and these SAME folks will be whining about that album not being a classic too. Just watch. Don't believe the hype folks, this is definitely an album worth owning.

Standout Tracks: Joy feat. Mos Def, Rush, The Proud (My Favorite), Guerrilla Monsoon Rap feat. Black Thought and Pharoahe Monche, Shock Body, Talk To You (Lil' Darlin') feat. Bilal, Good To You, Put It In The Air feat. DJ Quik, Where Do We Go feat. Res, Get By, and Won't You Stay feat. Kendra Ross

For any doubters out there, it is now official! Talib Kweli is a force in hip-hop. In music once can be a fluke, but twice is a pattern. This album is as good as the first one if not better, which is especially impressive because the bar was set so high with his debut Reflection Eternal. I used to be a little stuck on Kweli's voice but in a short time it has grown on me, and coupled with a signature delivery and top-notch lyrics, his flow has coalesced into one of the best in the industry - bar none! Talib Kweli may have carved out a niche for himself, as arguably hip-hop's smartest rapper but if you truly listen to Quality it's hard to argue that he is talking over people's heads. With Quality, Talib Kweli seems to have found that elusive balance between hip-hop that is political/conscious but not "preachy"; deeply soulful but not boring; and non-commercial but not poorly produced or unfriendly to radio. In fact Kweli scores big without the use of many big name rap producers and without Dj Hi-Tek, instead relying on lesser or barely known names like Kanye West, Dave West, J.Dilla, and Ayatollah to hold down the beat fort - and hold it down they do! Kayne West laces 3 of the albums tightest tracks in "Get By","Good to You", and "Guerrilla Monsoon" (featuring Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch) but there is plenty of other strong material that rivals even these cuts. Quality also scores big with a number of well timed guest appearance by underground hip-hop luminaries like the Cocoa Brovaz and Pharoahe Monch, but also some up-and-coming or barely heard of singers like Vinia Mojica, Novel, Res, and Kendra Ross. As usual the subject matter is varied and delivered like true poetry, ranging from topics like the joy of becoming a father ("Joy" ), to surviving in the system ("Get By", "Gun Music"), to black America post 9/11 ("The Proud"), to relationships ("Won't You Stay"). There's possibly no better way to describe this album than, than to say it is and represents everything hip-hop can be.

Talib Kweli, One of the member from the Supreme Rap Group "Black Star", He is the most talent rapper over here now!
This guy is MAD NICE!!!
Great Lyrics, Smooth Voice, Great Flow!
Sometime, if the beat is really wack, no matter how strong the rapper is, he still can't save the album,
but This album have many A+ Beat!

I still considering should I said it's a classic when I hear this album few times,
but after hear more times, I can feel the Heart and the Soul that Kweli give to the listener,
He is one of the Truest Rapper in the game!
And the beat is mad nice, so I decided it a muthafu*kin' CLASSIC!

Rush - Up-tempo Beat with a Distortion Electric Guitar Sample, a very animation song to start this album! 4.5/5

Get By - WOW~ The First Single of This album! Great Beat, Great Piano sample, a Grand Chorus, Kweli tell you how's life from the Ghetto, How their Life Get By! 5/5

Shock Body - Nice Beat Too! But Not My Favorite! 4/5

Gun Music - This one is Not a Bad Track, but I don't like the Chorus Sounds like! 4/5

Waiting For a DJ - Talib Kweli is Waitin' for a DJ to rock your ass!!! 5/5

Joy - Talib show off his Storytellin' Skill! Talib tell you the little story about his Baby Boy and Girl, Featuring Mos Def but damn.... he just sing the chorus! 4.5/5

Talk To You - No Comment

Guerrilla Monsoon Rap - Featurin Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch, Nice one! 4/5

Put It In The Air - This one is a mad nice Party anthem! Great beat by DJ Quik(this guy is extremely underrated) Really GREAT Track!!! 5/5

The Proud - Not My Favorite 4/5

Where Do We Go - A Slow Song, The Deepest song from this album! 4/5

Stand To The Side - This one is a Good Track! but not favorite too! 4/5

Good To You - GREAT ONE! 4.5/5

Won't You Stay - it's a Love Song man! and this one should be one of the best in album! 5/5

Rush, Get By, Waitin' for a DJ, Joy, Put It In The Air, Won't You Stay is Already worth you to get this album!!

We all need and BEG for a REAL Rapper just like Kweli!
And We Beg for a modern Rap CLASSIC like this one!

True Rap Fans Should NEVER miss Kweli "Quality" for their Rap CD Collections!

For any doubters out there, it is now official! Talib Kweli is a force in hip-hop. In music once can be a fluke, but twice is a pattern. This album is as good as the first one if not better, which is especially impressive because the bar was set so high with his debut Reflection Eternal. I used to be a little stuck on Kweli's voice but in a short time it has grown on me, and coupled with a signature delivery and top-notch lyrics, his flow has coalesced into one of the best in the industry - bar none! Talib Kweli may have carved out a niche for himself, as arguably hip-hop's smartest rapper but if you truly listen to Quality it's hard to argue that he is talking over people's heads. With Quality, Talib Kweli seems to have found that elusive balance between hip-hop that is political/conscious but not "preachy"; deeply soulful but not boring; and non-commercial but not poorly produced or unfriendly to radio. In fact Kweli scores big without the use of many big name rap producers and without Dj Hi-Tek, instead relying on lesser or barely known names like Kanye West, Dave West, J.Dilla, and Ayatollah to hold down the beat fort - and hold it down they do! Kayne West laces 3 of the albums tightest tracks in "Get By","Good to You", and "Guerrilla Monsoon" (featuring Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch) but there is plenty of other strong material that rivals even these cuts. Quality also scores big with a number of well timed guest appearance by underground hip-hop luminaries like the Cocoa Brovaz and Pharoahe Monch, but also some up-and-coming or barely heard of singers like Vinia Mojica, Novel, Res, and Kendra Ross. As usual the subject matter is varied and delivered like true poetry, ranging from topics like the joy of becoming a father ("Joy" ), to surviving in the system ("Get By", "Gun Music"), to black America post 9/11 ("The Proud"), to relationships ("Won't You Stay"). There is possibly no better way to describe this album than, than to say it is and represents everything hip-hop can be.

The bridge from underground to the mainstream, Talib Kweli has been my favorite emcee since I first heard of him. I bought "Black Star" before I found out Kweli had a solo album out. Needless to say I was hyped, but it never even occured to me that a record could be so thoroughly enjoyable, addictive, emotional, positive and just... mind-blowing. Not only did Talib open me up to the world of undergound rap, but he gave me a reason to hope that maybe hip-hop isn't a lost art after all.

How do you put words to what Kweli has done here? You can't. It's impossible. Every - single - track on this album is play-worthy, wait that's an understatement. I've had this CD for ages (much more than just a year) and it still dominates my CD collection (which is substantial).

I'm always looking for albums that have good lyricism, production and messages. Talib brings all of this and more to the table. What surprised me so much, is that I already knew what Kweli could do when I bought this CD, "Black Star" being another of my all-time favorite cuts. I didn't think I'd ever find a record better; I found one. Talib experiments with a variety of different styles on this record, from the battle-rap production of "Rush" to the light, party jam beat of "Waiting for the DJ", to the west-coast bounce of "Put It In The Air", all the way to his jazzed up melody of "Won't You Stay" and his old school vibe on "Stand To The Side".

The production on this CD is ranked among the best... ever, regardless of whether you're a mainstream fan or underground fan. However, even the production is over-shadowed by Talib's heart-felt and brilliantly written lyricism. Not only does Talib provide a powerfully positive flow on nearly every song, but he does so with incredible word-play, pulling verses and rhymes out of God knows where. When I first listened to this album, I had to do several double-takes on more than one track. Another plus for this CD, is that even on the songs where he sheds his 'conscience rapper' skin, he does so for a reason, and lets you know that any man can be pushed over a limit. Very true, and again, a message worth hearing.

I won't list what tracks are play-worthy or good, or even great because they all fall into those categories. Instead, let me just give you an idea of what songs lead their categories (i.e. sensitive songs, battle-rap etc. etc.) "Guerrilla Monsoon Rap" featuring Black Thought and Pharoah Monch outshines Talib's other battle-rap tracks by a fraction. "Where Do We Go" definitely leads the way in sensitivity. This song is so insightful and heart-felt, it leaves you feeling genuinely emotional. "Won't You Stay" is without a shadow of a doubt, the best romantic track of the record, and "Get By" sweeps the inspirational/motivational category.

Just for good measure, here's a quick summary.

PRO'S
*Consistently strong, positive messages, something hip-hop needs but lacks.
*Lyrics above and beyond all and any standards set by todays leading mainstream artists.
*Production that either gets your head to nod or your heart to leap. The beats and melodies on every track feels right, and on several of Talib's more emotional cuts, they often evoke some potent emotions.
*Guest appearances do a surprisingly good job of living up to Kweli, providing strong support and a nice variety of styles.

CONS
***What cons?***

I haven't met anyone who doesn't like this CD, and for that matter, I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who would. If you buy any hip-hop CD this year, buy this one. Even if you don't like rap, you'll like this album. With messages everyone can relate to, a laid-back flow that can pull off a surprisingly emotional performance, and production unheard of and unequaled in hip-hop today, this CD outshines every other record on the market.

Sometimes it sucks to be the one to write a negative review about someone I respect and admire so much, but let's chalk it up to constructive criticism. The intro on this cd is probably the best i ever heard since 'Things Fall Apart'. Dave Chapelle was awesome, considering he also voiced the Nelson mandela intro on Eternal. 'Rush', produced by Megahertz was as good as any rap track I heard this year. 'Get by' was great too. Then the wheels came lose, things started crumbling as too many cooks started hitting the kitchen. Tracks 6, with Bilal, 7 with Mos, and of course the Soulquarian produced track 8 right the ship for a second, but kweli couldn't maintain the momentum.
What happened? you may ask. Well, as good as Talib is as a lyricist (he has some of the deepest flows I ever heard), he isn't the versatile MC Mos is. Mos can flow to 10 different producers and be able to adjust to each and every beat change and style. He can even ad lib and sing when he runs out of lyrics. Kweli on the other hand is very one dimentional. He is so used to Hi-Tek's beats that trying to sound half-commercial was a big mistake. Ayatollah, DJ Quik, etc. They are not people who pattern their musik to fit Kweli subtle wordplay. And why would you pick 2 J-Dilla beats that are identical, and then play them back to back?!
I love Kweli, I really do. But he should decide in his mind what he wants his albums to sound like. He is never going to be a commercial rapper. He should hook up with Hi-tek in future ( Except to work with ?uestlove, Dilla, Megahertz, storch, Darien, west, Poyser) for that is where his power lies. He should stay away from the gun rapping , thuglike rhymes he used on some tracks, for it isn't convincing.
I sum up by saying, good rhymes, confused artist, to many cooks. A lot of highlights, but a lot of lowlights too. thanks.

i first started listening to talib kweli on the blackstar album, and from that it was easy to tell that he would soon become one of the all time greats. his first solo album helps prove this. it is an incredible album, with tight production and very clever lyrics, with the highlight being on "the proud" where his verse about the police is one of the best rhymes hes ever done . the production is also flawless the whole way through, with an unusual mix of producers, including megahertz (who produced "bad boy 4 life" by p diddy and nas' "got yourself a gun"), j-dilla aka jay-dee, dj quik, the soulaquriens, ayatollah (produced 'the life' by styles) and kanye west, whos most known for his work with jay-z and the whole roc camp, who produces the 3 best tracks on the album, "get by", "guerilla monsoon rap" and "good to you". "good to you" is one of my fav tracks on the album, it samples the old al green tune "simply beautiful". "guerilla monsoon rap" is one of the highlights of the album, with good guest apperences from black thought and pharoahe monch. there are other guest apperences by bilal, res, mos def & vinia mojica.
id say the only bad thing about this album is that mos def doesnt spit a verse on "joy",and only sings the courus.
but overalll this is a near flawless album, and easily the best album to come out of 2002, and this just shows what real hip hop should be like. if you liked reflection eternal and the blackstar album, go buy this, you wont be disapointed

I had this album before but I found myself only listening to "Get By", so I sold it and figured I'd get that song burned since I really wasn't listening to much else. But Talib Kweli came to DePaul University for a concert tonight and when he rapped his songs out loud, it made me want to walk onstage (I was already standing up) and just give him a hug. Kweli makes me love hip-hop, true hip-hop and for that, I'm going to buy his cd again. Not just this one, but the rest. A true hip hop artist can perform a song and make you see it new every time. My heart almost burst out my chest when I heard "Get By". I really just love his presence. He's talking about something with depth in each one of his songs, and I appreciate that. It's so rare. At the concert, he had the Brickheadz dancing in the background while he rapped and it took me back to when I was little. I have nothing but love for the man. Get this album just to support a man doing his thing in an intelligent way.

As promised, I rebought the cd and remembered how much I like "Talk To You" (soulful, smooth) and "The Proud" (that sit-in-a-lawn-chair-think-where-your-life-is-headed joint). I enjoy it more than I did the first time.

Though we come to expect so much from Talib Kweli, we feel somewhat betrayed when he seemingly veers of our projected course that we have arbitrarily set for him. He tried different recipes when creating this dish, but in the end he still finished with a great meal. Honestly I love this albulm, it has some things I question as to why{they're are minimal}, but for the ninety nine percent of it I have no qualms about it. This is great music, not only great hip-hop. If you want something great for your hard earned dollar, and you love music, not MTV, but music, then this albums for you. You can't go wrong: you have great production, great lyrics, and most of all great content. This is not for one who likes to hear nonsense over a 'dope' beat, because it'll challenge you to ask yourself why didn't I pick this up before now. Oh, and don't let me forget, if you haven't already picked up "Reflection Eternal"? I have only one question for you.......WHY NOT? I'm a little more conservative when giving out 5 stars, but I see so many other lame MC's with a 4 or better, so I felt I would be doing this brother injustice if I gave him anything less than 5. Hip-hop is back!!!

I know what everyone is going to say. Am I nuts for giving this album only 3 stars ? No I am not. I am a Talib Kweli fan. I think he is one of the best MC's out now. But QUALITY, did not live up to the hype ( at least I think it didn't ). First, lets start with the lyrics. The rhymes alone get 5 stars. Talib Kweli is definitely a great lyricist. I remember when I first heard him in 1998 on DEFINITION from the BLACK STAR album and I was amazed at how nice his flow was. He seemed to just spit his rhymes without caring if he was offbeat or not. And that was great. Now he sort of gave up on the fast paced flow he used to have and rhymes more like he wants to flow with the beat. It's not bad but then again, it's not great. Now to the beats. His choice of beats weren't that good. His roster consists of Megahertz, Ayatollah, Jay Dee ( aka J Dilla ), Kanye West, DJ Scratch and others.

Beat Ratings 1 - 5

Megahertz - 2/5 ( too much rock influence )
Ayatollah - 2/5 ( not his best work )
Kanye West - 2/5 ( he is wack, but he did a alright job )
Jay Dee - 1/5 ( WHAT HAPPENDED !!, he is usually good )
DJ Scratch - 2/5 ( he is always good, but this joint was wack )

This album has some joints. Such as RUSH, GET BY, GUN MUSIC, GUERILLA MONSOON RAP, JOY, WHERE DO WE GO ( DEDICATED TO WELDON IRVINE ) and the best song WAITIN' FOR THE DJ. For those REFLECTION ETERNAL fans out there, you'll be somewhat disappointed with the fact that DJ Hi-Tek doesn't provide a single beat on QUALITY. Talib Kweli really needs DJ Hi-Tek on the beats. I hope they didn't part ways. Though QUALITY is half good. The lyrics were good, the beats stink. Basically, the rhymes 5 stars, the beats 2 stars, overall 3 stars. Talib Kweli better go back to DJ Hi-Tek for production because having multiple producers doesn't work for Talib Kweli.