Talib Kweli - Keep It In The Pockets (Kero One Remix)

Imagine that the funkiest funk from the West Coast shared a night of passion with the sharpest lyrics from the East Coast. Imagine that nine months later a little musical baby was born, wailing saxophones and farting a kick-snare beat. Got that? This is what it would sound like.

Here, East Coast veteran Talib goes to work on a beat which is nothing short of genius. The way it ebbs and flows, the complexity building into near chaos in the intro, before slimming down to something minimal for the verse, is sublime. Kero One is one of the most exciting funk producers I've heard: his work is consistently musical (but verges into porno-music sometimes, which I guess is appropriate for a Californian)



Best of all, you can download this for free from the incredibly generous patrons of Potholes In My Blog

Talib Kweli ft Jean Grae - Uh Oh

Jean Grae absolutely scorches this track, which is off the (apparently mediocre) new Talib Kweli album.

She opens up with Aaliyah/Timbaland's catchiest line ever. And the murder-murder line is a straight reference to Freddie Gibbs' "they don't really want that murder-murder". Seriously, no-one else has said "murder-murder" since about 1999. True fact: I googled it.

Talib Kweli - Never Been In Love Before

So when Talib was signed to a major label (Universal c/o Geffen), he made a straight-forward soul-based ode to love, and fidelity. This is a little cheesy for him, but I'm sure the label lapped it up.

And then he made a nice snarky video about censorship. Which is like telling the label that they've been lapping up laxatives. And then watching them go poo themselves. Truly brilliant. With Talib it's basically non-stop-lol in the world of hip-hop.

Long story short, he got dropped from the label, and goes from strength to strength. And the music industry as we know it is collapsing. And Talib's giving away a free mixtape. Life is good.

Blackstar ft. Common - Respiration

This is a love letter to youth and New York. And, as if that weren't enough, the intro is in Spanish, and the video is monochrome. Arty indeedy. The lyrics are so intricate: I think "hard knuckles on the second hands of working-class watches" might be my favourite line ever.

Talib Kweli - Lie A Lot

You know those songs which have less lyrical content than a nursery rhyme, but delicious catchy instrumentals? Yeah? They torture me.

A case in point is Mims' spectacular one-hit-wonder This Is Why I'm Hot. The instrumental is reverbed-out bleeps of bass with a driving snare and handclaps: hip-hop heaven. The lyrics really don't bear analysis.

Fortunately, thanks to the wonderful magic of computers, the ever-articulate Talib Kweli has been able to perform the equivalent of a brain transplant by putting a new vocal on the whole track. Yesss.

Talib Kweli - Ms Hill

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill wasn't the first album I ever bought, but it was the first one I knew every word to. And I still love it. Evidently I'm in good company, because Talib Kweli is also in the fan club.

This is Talib's tribute to Ms Hill, with a little Ben Kweller sample. Both amazing songs. Also useful for winning any arguments about rap's supposed misogeny and denigration of women.

05 - Talib Kweli - Ms. Hill by shenal1992