It Ain’t Old School, New School, it’s True School Rap

It was about this time last year when Talib Kweli dropped the first single from Ear Drum. Of course back when Listen!!! was making the rounds the album was supposed to come out in early November 2006 but alas got delayed. Then the second single dropped in February of this year. And still no album on the shelves. Yeah you finally find the album wondering around the internet as early as June, but you can finally get your hands on the legal version today.

Was Ear Drum worth the wait? Um, yes and no. When Talib is on he comes up with some near classic tracks, but nothing on the album tops what we first heard of the disk, Listen!!! But the album, which goes twenty tracks deep, has plenty of filler. Some of this is thanks to the company the rapper keeps. Starting at the back with the album closer The Nature which was co-produced by and features Justin Timberlake whom obviously didn’t pick up anything when working with the likes of Timbaland or The Neptunes.

Also playing the duel role of producer and featured artist is Will.i.am on Hot Thing that just sounds like every other bland bootie song on the last two Black Eyed Peas album. And it is not that Kweli can’t pull of the bootie song as heard on Kanye West’s Get ‘em High (Kanye of which shows up on the decent In the Mood). More useless cameos come from Houston natives UGK on Country Cousins where the group and Talib trade verses on what they like about rappers from different areas. Norah Jones gets herself on another rap album but unfortunately instead of converting her to his genre Talib on Soon the New Day, but instead the song sound like Kweli rapping over one of Norah’s but with the snare beats turned up.

With that said, there is plenty of stuff that will take you back to ’88. Listen!!! is a classic head nodder that should be welcome at any block party for years. The son of two professors shows us his knowledge on NY Weather Report and More or Less where he tells us what we need, well, more and less of. And there are a couple guest and actually add to the song, not take away including Old School hero KRS-One on The Perfect Beat as well as a well placed choir on Hostile Gospel pt. 1 (Deliver Us). Hopefully his next album, which Kweli has already titled Prisoner of Conscience, isn’t delayed for almost a year, as well as having trimmed some of the fat before released.

Song to Download - Listen!!!

Ear Drum gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.