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And 2007 begins with a surprise, with a gift.
Stones Throw, a leading and cult label for quality hip-hop and black music in the United States, allowed anyone to download this work for free from their website during the first week of January. A rather interesting project that features an unprecedented duo: the genius Madlib on the beats and Talib Kweli on the rhymes.
From the very first track, you can recognize the style of what is perhaps the best beatmaker around in the past five years: refined and chic sounds, the indispensable and light crackle of vinyl on the turntable, and above all a fat and hard, meaty funk groove that only he can create. The beat is always irresistible and relentless, but not raw and banal: listen to the aggressive and vaguely futuristic off-beat of Over The Counter or the vintage charm of Happy Home, both tracks capable of outshining the cash-rich productions that infest television and radio. For his part, Talib Kweli does his dirty work flawlessly, with an unobtrusive stage presence and an angry but not overwhelming flow.
The tracks are all well-crafted, whether the mood is more languid (above all the sultry Soul Music, and the title says it all) or when the pace is tighter (for example Funny Money). Perhaps the only one that doesn't quite convince is the concluding What Can I Do, but only because our Madlib had already used it within that wonderful fresco called 'The Beat Konducta'.
Clearly, this 'Liberation' is not an essential work (if you're looking for the classic, go back and dust off MadVillainy or the aforementioned 'The Beat Konducta' Vol. 1-2): often there's a sense of a high-quality diversion, but we're not complaining. Once the record starts spinning, half an hour passes enjoyably, and, after all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Tracklist
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