Two years since his previous effort Gutter Rainbows hit stores, Brooklyn rhymer Talib Kweli drops off his fifth solo album Prisoner of Conscious. With an array of featured guests, a magnitude of rhythmically responsive instrumental backdrops and more subject matters than a book of short stories, the 15 track lyrical get down is a tempo frenzy of intellectual poetry.
After performing at The Roundhouse in London on the 17th of this month, Talib Kweli invited SoulCulture down to the studio the next day, where he was joined by Akon affiliated UK emcee Sway to record a song together.
He later refers to other homegrown talents Kano, Estelle, Ty, Roots Manuva and Blak Twang as some of his favourite local artists, but refers to an overall sense of the UK scene as being "real goonish right now," judging from what he's seen online.
"Goonish rap for the sake of being goonish, it comes off real cartoon-ish..." he states. "I saw some stuff that just came across as, like, 'You don't even have to try that hard, dude'," recalling a time S.A.S "ran up on" him outside the BBC in the past.
In-between recording and shooting a music video in London, Kweli spoke to SoulCulture TV about his displeasure at the gig of the night before, his experiences of the UK's Capital and why he chose to shoot a video here for a song from his new album, Gutter Rainbows.
He also discusses how he perceives his growth across albums and another album he is also working on titled Prisoners Of Conscious, describing the forthcoming Gutter Rainbows project as "like the early outtakes of Prisoners Of Conscious, but embellished upon."
He names some of his favourite self-penned verses as
“If Jay-Z makes rap look easy, Kweli makes rap look hard”.
I utterly believe this opening quote can be used as a summary for the BK emcee's career. Going deeper in the rabbits hole, a stupendous emcee: chameleonic and acrobatic flows, relevant and diverse subject matter in the much arid panorama of substance that composes American rap, unparalleled understanding of the “Dilla” thump and aesthetics and unique vocal chords culminating with his biggest weapon, tremendous lyricism annexed with positivism and consciousness. Shoes many rappers try to fill, but so very few manage to walk in.
These gifts and accomplishments result in a Prometheus cult following that hasn't faded over a decade. Talib Kweli has nothing to prove and is hungry still, that's incredible and it's the type of cloth that legends and hall of famers are usually cut from. The curse, on the other hand, lies in