Talib Kweli
The Beautiful Struggle
Release Date: Sep 28, 2004
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Rawkus
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: The Beautiful Struggle by Talib Kweli
Fairly Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 3/5
"If lyrics sold, I'd probably be as rich and famous as Jay-Z," notes a rueful Talib Kweli on his second solo album. He has a point. The New Yorker is an exceptionally skilled MC with plenty to say. However, he has struggled even to escape the shadow of his schoolfriend and sometime collaborator Mos Def, hardly a household name himself.
Based on rating 6/10
Something's not right when a high compliment -- one laid down on wax, no less! -- from a giant like Jay-Z doesn't set off a major sales spike. Such is the case with Talib Kweli, a phenomenal MC who has only flirted with mainstream acceptance, despite being admired by a host of harder-edged platinum artists. Rather than try to ride out that slow if steady momentum and see where it takes him, Kweli takes the power into his own hands and grabs for the brass ring.