Talib Kweli f. MF Doom "Fly That Knot"
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Okay, a new Kweli and Doom track is reason enough to put off my self-imposed Thanksgiving hiatus (I’m exhausted). I love the fact that formerly “underground” mix tapes, for at least a decade the heartbeat of hip-hop, are now seeing “official” release. It gives highly productive artists (75% of the hip-hop community) the opportunity to subvert the typical release schedule and drop something that represents what they did three weeks ago, while keeping their names on the lips of fans pining for something new. This year, we’ve seen great mixtapes from egregious label drops Consequence and Clipse, a solid comp from Big Boi and now, Right About Now: The Official Sucka-Free Mix CD from Talib Kweli, released yesterday on Okay Player. The title is appropriate–Kweli affirms its immediacy in an interview with Allhiphop.com: “Usually when my music comes out, the people hear where I was a year ago. This project represents where I am right now.” “Fly That Knot” (mp3) is probably the result of extra studio time during the recording of The Mouse and the Mask–it’s not the best track on this album, but it should be enough to get you to buy it, right?
Buy Right About Now: The Official Sucka-Free Mix CD here.
Yeah, this is a quality track… and an interesting point about how these mixtapes are now seeing release. I wish acts outside of hip hop would consider doing stuff like this – just taking some raw versions of their current work and putting it out there. Although the sins of the record industry have been enumerated countless times, one of their less talked about transgressions is how they have forced so many artists NOT to be prolific.
With these damn “release schedules” labels claim the need to spend 6 to 8 months unrolling the red carpet for an album… and half the time they don’t spend any real releases promoting it anyway. So what’s the point?
I dunno, man. I’ve really tried to like Talib … I have. But something just turns me off. I think he’s been blessed to be surrounded by some pretty talented emcees/producers/etc. What am I missing??
I can’t say I completely disagree with you, Kevin. For the most part, I’ve liked Kweli in theory more than in practice, although Reflection Eternal was great. His lyrical style is one that takes a while to grow on you–it’s very matter-of-fact and intelligent, but can ride astride the beat at times instead of on top of it. I really dug his spot on The Mouse and the Mask, though.