Rating:
  Review Date: March 4, 2007
  Websites: Madlib – Talib Kweli
  Label: Blacksmith Records

Talib Kweli & Madlib “Liberation” Album Review
I know I say this a lot, but Talib Kweli is my favorite MC of all time. As corny as this may sound, his music has always been something I’ve felt I could relate to; something that just seems to make sense to me and, in the process, help me make sense of the things going on around me.

For example, I’ve recently been struggling over the decision of whether or not to move to New York City. My girl lives there, so we’ve been discussing taking another step along that relationship path. My job allows me to work from any location with an Internet connection, so it’s not like I gotta look for employment or anything. And NYC definitely wouldn’t be a bad place for networking my steadily-growing hip-hop website. However, I’ve been scared over the fact that a move to NYC would force me to leave family and friends in Denver, Colorado.

So all this was weighing on my mind when I downloaded my free copy of “Liberation” from Madlib’s MySpace page, a download available only for the first week of 2007. All of a sudden, a lot of Kweli’s verses that seemed related to my situation started jumping out at me. In track two, he started talking about the many places he’s traveled to and how it may have helped him progress as an MC:

Mr. International, passport pimpin’
City street dweller, every asphalt different
Hittin’ with Jean and the Roots
My man Black Thought rippin’
Out in Glasgow, Switzerland
My rap flow switchin’ up

Here, Kweli talks about touring Europe with Jean Grae and the Roots, and how he started to notice his “rap flow switchin’ up.” In track seven, he demonstrates a belief that he actually does this moving around for his family:

I go out in the world and I represent the family name
They used to hang our people from a tree like a candy cane
Now I’m standing on the shoulders of my ancestors
And I’m throwing up the sign of the times like hand gestures
And no matter where in the world I roam
I’m gonna get the money and I always bring it back to
This happy home

Here, Kweli claims he goes all over the world to “represent the family name,” but no matter where he roams, he always comes back home. In other tracks, he shows loyalty to cats like Mos Def (Dante Smith) and DJ Hi-Tek, who were with him when he came up:

Came in with Mos Def and Hi-Tek
And that’s my family dogg, they might catch the last gasp of my breath

Blacksmith is the return of the black fist
That’s why that’s it, it’s the black star
Shout out to black Dante
Give me a call next time you wanna rush to be amazed
I’ll be right there with the whole Steady gang

The more I listened to all this, the more it made me think. Family is family, whether biological, extended or via some sort of fictive kinship common in hip-hop culture. No location should change that. Perhaps that’s why Kweli consistently shouts out cats like Mos, Hi-Tek, Jean Grae and Black Thought. And maybe greatness is in part achieved through change, experience, and making moves. Perhaps what makes Kweli one of the most brilliant and creative MCs in hip-hop and what makes Madlib one of the most brilliant and creative producers in hip-hop is simply that they both have the courage to test boundaries and move in new directions, regardless of the distance it could create between them and loved ones.

After all, if there are any two people that represent making moves in hip-hop, they would be Talib Kweli and Madlib. Kweli has worked with artists from coast to coast, in Cincinnati, New York and California, and with some of the top producers in hip-hop, including Hi-Tek, Kanye West and the recently and sadly deceased J Dilla. Madlib has also worked with artists all over the country, creating compilations with the likes of MF Doom and J Dilla, and under several interestingly-unique aliases, including the recording genius Quasimoto and the four fictitious members of Yesterdays New Quintet. Now the two have teamed up to create their own compilation, a project called “Liberation” under Kweli’s new Blacksmith Records label, which has allowed them to further expand their boundaries and extend their legacies in hip-hop music and culture.

Destiny in Hip-Hop
Like my man Forrest Gump, I always hear people talk about concepts like fate and destiny. Destiny is essentially the belief that all human beings have some predetermined path that they will follow in their lives; that everything has a purpose or a meaning. This means that God or nature or some fixed natural order is responsible for Talib Kweli being a great MC, or for Madlib being a great DJ, or for the two coming together to create this great compilation. Forrest Gump’s mama would’ve believed something like that.

Unfortunately, most people seem to use destiny as an excuse these days; something to take blame or responsibility away from themselves. If a relationship doesn’t work out, it’s because it wasn’t meant to be. If I drop out of college, it’s because I have another path and maybe it wasn’t my purpose. Currently, I find the biggest modern day challenge to the concept of fate to be what I like to refer to as the Crack Baby Paradox. You ever seen a crack baby on a documentary or, God forbid, in a real life hospital kicking and screaming because he’s so addicted to crack that he can’t bear to live without it? Well, if God has a predetermined plan for everyone, and there is a meaning behind everything, what is the purpose of a crack baby? Forrest Gump’s buddy Lieutenant Dan would’ve brought up a question like that.

I don’t know, man . but in the case of Talib Kweli and Madlib, it seems like they made things happen for themselves. After all, Kweli could’ve chosen to stay in Brooklyn, not travel, work with the same people record after record, and may not have evolved. But he didn’t. Madlib could’ve chosen to stay with the Lootpack, or not cross the boundaries into jazz, soul and electronic-inspired production, and may not have evolved. But he didn’t either. And I think that’s an example of cats choosing their own path and creating their own destinies.

So what’s my point? I’m moving to NYC motherfuckers! I’ve been stagnant way too long, and I refuse to leave this Earth without knowing that I did everything I could to try new things, experience life and make my best possible attempt to gain wisdom and evolve. I will miss my people, but family is family and I won’t forget where I’m from or where I’ve been ever. Maybe we do have a destiny, or maybe we have to get up and make things happen for ourselves. Or maybe like my man Forrest Gump would say, it’s a little bit of both. Either way, I’m done sitting around waiting for change to hit me. I’m out! Think about it. Peace.