Track Listing

1. Everything Man - Kweli, Talib
2. NY Weather Report - Kweli, Talib
3. Hostile Gospel (Deliver Us) - Kweli, Talib
4. Say Something - Kweli, Talib & Jean Grae
5. Country Cousins - Kweli, Talib & UGK/Raheem Devaughn
6. Holy Moly - Kweli, Talib
7. Eat To Live - Kweli, Talib
8. In The Mood - Kweli, Talib & Kanye West/Roy Ayers
9. Soon The New Day - Kweli, Talib & Norah Jones
10. Give 'Em Hell - Kweli, Talib & Coi Mattison/Lyfe Jennings
11. More Or Less - Kweli, Talib & Dion
12. Stay Around - Kweli, Talib
13. Hot Thing - Kweli, Talib & Will.I.Am
14. Space Fruit - Sa-Ra
15. Perfect Beat - Kweli, Talib & KRS-One
16. Oh My Stars - Kweli, Talib & Musiq Soulchild
17. Listen - Kweli, Talib
18. Hostile Gospel (Deliver Me) - Kweli, Talib
19. Nature - Kweli, Talib & Justin Timberlake

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33695 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

CD Description
'Ear Drum' is the third album from former Blackstar member Talib Kweli. Combining unique, thoughtful and subtle politicised lyrics with a sophisticated soulful sound. This is a landmark album from one of the most original and underrated wordsmiths of recent times. Guest stars include Norah Jones, Lyfe Jennings, KRS-One and Justin Timberlake. The single 'HotThing' is produced by and features Will.I.am.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic
If you are unfamilliar with Kweli then this is, no doubt, the perfect place to start. Likewise, if you are an avid fan then this is guaranteed to please. Undoubtedly this will become a modern-day classic within weeks.

The album gets off to a weak start with Everything Man and NY Weather Report, but quickly picks up with Hostile Gospel pt 1, with haunting choir vocals supporting Kweli's honest, hard-hitting lyrics.

Say Something is a highlight of the album, with an amazing verse by the one and only Jean Grae (worth checking out - buy "This Week"). Country Cousins is a slow track about where Kweli, and his accomplices Raheem and UGK, come from.

In Holy Moly Kweli talks about his religion, with a soulful beat. Eat To live is a weaker track in this otherwise brilliant album, but is nonetheless good lyrically. In The Mood (featuring and produced by Kanye) is a sexy, sutble song over a jazzy beat and is another highlight of the album. Soon the new day follows this pattern with a beautiful chorus featuring Norah Jones.

Give Em Hell is another powerful track with Coi Mattison and Lyfe Jennings. More or Less is the second single from the album, where Kweli & Dion talk about what they want more and less of in the world, and in hip hop. Stay Around is another weak point of the album, but still manages to be simple and catchy. Hot Thing, produced by will.i.am, is a slow love song describing his lover. This is undoubtedly one of the most memorable songs in the album. Space Fruit is a quick interlude performed by Sa-Ra.

The Perfect Beat is undoubtedly an instant classic, with blastmaster KRS-One aiding Kweli. A catchy instrumental loop accompanies brilliant lyrics. Oh My Stars is a relaxing, soulful track with Musiq providing excellent harmonies.

Listen!!!, the first single from the album, makes an appearance next with a brilliant sample and ingenious lyrics over a bouncy beat. Hostile Gospel pt. 2 features Sizzla, a dancehall artist with a brass loop.

The Nature is a dull collaboration with Justin Timberlake, trying to be a moralistic peace anthem, but is in fact shallow and uninspired. A poor track to end the album with, but does not bring down the quality of the album.

Highs: Hostile Gospel pt 1, Say Something, In The Mood, Soon the New Day, Hot Thing, Perfect Beat, Listen.

Lows: Everything Man, Stay Around, The Nature.

While this album has a few weak tracks, the good ones are more than enough to merit the 5 star rating. Definitely worth your money.

good 'music to my ear'-drum...
Good solid hip-hop records are hard to come by these days, a lot of artist do too much in trying to reach out to everyone and Kweli has also been guilty of this without a doubt. I didnt like Beautiful struggle at all coz I thought it was not what was expected from Kweli, we all knew that he was capable of making good music and this album re-affirms that notion. This is pure bliss, you get almost the same feel off this album as you do when you listen to Reflection Eternal. Kweli definitely does what he does best and that is make music that you will appreciate through and through...

Buy this album if you aint got it coz it is Kweli at his best and when he is at his best, he makes some good music. When the first song comes in, you think oh ok, sounds promising and by the time you get to track 5, you think, this can't be real, all the tracks sound dope and I have been bumping my head to this album in my car every day since I got it. Production wise, well that list of producers in itself says a lot about his intentions on this album, he has Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, Kanye West (only one song), Will.I.am, Madlib, Battlecat, Just Blaze and believe it or not Justine Timberlake.

And as far as the songs are concerned, I would quote 3/4 of the songs on the album as heavy tracks. Common's album comes no where near as I was a bit disappointed with finding Forever or whatever that album is called and I will put my neck out and say this album will probably be better than Kanye's when it comes out in terms of good hip-hop music. All in all, great tracks, food for thought in terms of subject matter, great features, heavy production and if I had to find something bad to say, I would say the album cover lets it down since its not very creative from my point of view, but I can live with that for sure.

kweli is back
after a string of mediocre albums since reflection eternal talib finds his soul on ear drum, fantastic album.