Ear drum, Talib Kweli’s third solo album shows that he is one of hip-hop’s most underrated artists. While lacking a truly standout track, Listen!!! is sure to get some air time, it is a complete work that showcases Kweli’s talent and intelligence. His reputation as a socially conscious emcee is not undeserved with Eat 2 Live, where he rails against hunger and bad health, to his gripes against organized religion in Give ‘Em Hell.
The album also covers the hip-hop landscape, featuring cameos from Texas-based duo, UGK to Kanye West and even jazz vocalist Norah Jones. In Country Cousins, he both dissects the different styles of the genre while noting the similarities that each region’s version of hip-hop carries. He is still true to his east-coast roots, with NY Weather Report and The Perfect Beat, where he collaborates with fellow activist rapper and Bronx native, KRS-One.
The weakness in Ear drum is his frequent collaborations. His best-known works are not his solo ones, but joint efforts; it is a little hard to describe Ear drum as a solo album when fourteen of the twenty tracks feature another artist and one track where he does not appear at all. If he is to truly be regarded as an artist he will have to go alone when carving his niche in the hip-hop genre.
All in all, Ear Drum offers an incredibly rich array of progressive hip-hop, both in its lyrical content as well as method and style. It is a well-balanced album with everything from social commentary; to the obligatory track about women and intensely personal tracks about/to his family. Ear Drum is definitely worth giving a Listen!!!