"It ain't commercial or underground, it's true," goes one line on Talib
Kweli's new album Quality, and it could be his mantra. The supposed
divide between "underground hip-hop" and "commercial hip-hop" lurks behind
much of Quality as an enormous, annoying presence. Kweli seems driven
to erase that boundary, to keep fans of independent hip-hop happy while
making his music more accessible to the average listener, music that
everyone can live to.
Kweli's career grew out of the so-called underground, as his early singles
and the classic Mos and Def are Talib Kweli Are Black Star album were
widely loved by serious hip-hop fans and critics but got ignored by the more
mainstream music outlets. 2001's Reflection Eternal album, by Kweli
and his DJ pal Hi-Tek, cemented his status with fans without getting your
average person on the street any closer to knowing his name. So the
backstory for Quality is Kweli's status as an MC's MC, an idol to the
diehard hip-hop fans, as well as the fact that both of his previous albums
were billed as "Kweli and…". Quality is his next chance to really
show what he can do, to make a real impression.
The truth is that the "underground" and "commercial" division is a false
one, that where an artist is placed in listeners' minds often has less to do
with the actual music than what record labels and cliques they're associated
with. It's an unfortunate situation for an artist to be in—you want to sell
more records, you want more people to hear what you do, yet if you change
your sound too much you risk losing your audience. That said, it's clear
from Quality that Kweli's approach to reaching an audience is to stay
true to himself while broadening his musical palette to include more joyous
soul choruses and sensuous R&B hooks. That approach feels less like a move
toward what's popular today than a move toward combining Kweli's style with
the music from all time periods that he loves. The songs on Quality
are flavored with the history of black music—soul, rock, gospel, jazz— yet
retain a sense of new, fresh hip-hop. Kweli manages to tap into the stream
of bright, catchy music that everyday people can listen to all day long
while also pushing himself in an even rawer hip-hop direction.
"Rush" kicks off the album with energy, as Kweli comes out spitting rough
rhymes over a Jimi Hendrix-marching band backing track reminiscent of Busta
Rhymes' overlooked Anarchy album. That segues into a song that's even
more guaranteed to wake you up, the joyous soul-gospel number "Get By". It's
a smart, vivacious song that's about the things people rely on to get them
through life, yet is also an excellent example of the same, a song that will
make you feel happy to be alive.
This first section of Quality is in a way all like that, with sounds
that'll send pulses of energy through your body and get you on your feet.
There's "Shock Body", a track that feels both futurist and retro, with
psych-soul vocals and a danceable beat. It's followed by "Gun Music", which
takes a journalistic approach to the prevalence of gun violence and mixes it
with a rugged reggae-flavored track, and "Waitin' for the DJ", the snappy,
feel-good single with a soulful hook from Bilal. And those lead into perhaps
the most uplifting of them all: "Joy", an encapsulation of how Kweli felt
from the birth of his two children. Kweli approaches the verses of that
song, which each tell the story of where he was and how he felt when his
kids were born, like he's talking to his best friend. And Mos Def hangs
around in the background, not kicking verses that would raise the song's
hipness cache but echoing his friend's feelings with a, "I know how you
feel, Brother Kwa I know how you feel."
Quality is filled with songs that are ripe for the radio, at least in
an ideal world where radio paid any attention to songs. "Won't You Stay",
featuring Kendra Ross, and the Eddie Kendricks remake "Talk to You (Lil'
Darlin), featuring Bilal, are collaborations that have an honesty and
openness missing from all of the R&B-meets-hip-hop duets all over MTV. "Get
By" and "Waitin' for the DJ" are accessible enough that I could imagine
grandmas tapping their feet to the beat while their grandchildren dance to
the music. And for fans of tough, raw hip-hop there's the stunning
"Guerrilla Monsoon Rap", a playful yet hardcore cut matching Kweli with
Black Thought and Pharoah Monch, and "Put It in the Air", a typically
salacious DJ Quik disco-ized duet.
For all of the album's "crossover potential", as record execs might call it
(or "everyday people" quality, as I prefer), this is also straight-up
hip-hop that features one of the sharpest MCs around. Kweli has a way with
words, and no track here is a letdown. Whether he's showing off his skills
over an energetic beat or tapping into his poetic side, he's at the top of
his game. Kweli's an ace lyricist, too. Part of what initially drew fans to
him was his deep side, the politically aware, inquisitive,
rebel-with-a-heart side. While that side of his personality is integrated
into everything he does, it especially shines here on some of the more
serious, down-tempo tracks in the album's second half.
Especially effective are a trio of introspective songs: "The Proud", "Where
Do We Go" and "Stand to the Side". The first is Kweli's topical song,
dealing with his thoughts on America post-9/11. By saying exactly how he
feels, Kweli approaches current events in a balanced yet forthright way. He
isn't afraid to call out the police for the way they've treated his people,
and to express his reservations about the way the police have been
celebrated in the wake of 9/11. But he also is quick to praise the people
that he thinks deserve praise (the rescue workers, for example) and express
the sorrow that he feels needs to be expressed, while at the same time
attacking hypocrisy, blind patriotism, and a President who doesn't care
about the people. "Where Do We Go", featuring Res, and "Stand to the Side",
featuring Novel and Vinia Mojica, are two heartfelt, mellow, J. Dilla (aka
Jay Dee)-produced tracks that explore the intersections between the personal
and the political and the ways that our decisions affect everyone in a
heartfelt, serious way.
Kweli's approaching to rhyming on "Where Do We Go" is especially subtle and
delicate. Quality in general reveals that Kweli, like the best jazz
horn player, knows how to use his instrument in different ways depending on
the tone of the music. His rhyming style is more diverse on this album than
ever before, and that makes sense for an album that itself is filled with
diversity. Quality has songs that rock, smooth songs, songs that make
you think, songs that will make you dance. It contains nearly every feeling
that music can evoke in a person.
— 27 December 2002
