Record of the Month
Talib Kweli
‘Gutter Rainbows’, the album Talib Kweli claims to have produced outside the music business, certainly hits some dizzying heights. Particularly on ‘Gutter Rainbows’, ‘Palookas’ and ‘Tater Tot’. These three tracks share a common trait: they are truly informed by Kweli’s streets. M-Phazes slick production on the album’s title track sees Kweli’s dark reflection on hood life blast through soaring horns, punchy percussion and bright synths. The self proclaimed “voice of the voiceless, hope of the hopeless”, Kweli furnishes the soundscape with brutal images of a loveless urban America: “Living with death, smoking blunts with the grim reaper/Snitch niggas known to blow the whistle like a gym teacher,” spits the rapper with vigour.
The introspection continues on the meandering ‘So Low’, where Kweli offers a riposte: “I’ve got my own demons, what am I supposed to do with your?” before rapidly changing pace on the exceptional ‘Palookas’, a slice of pure, unadulterated hip-hop. A strutting Kweli, ostensibly free of the aforementioned demons, dovetails with a terrifyingly confrontational Sean Price who bullies his way through the verse on what is one of the album’s high points. Unfortunately, ‘Gutter Rainbows’ stutters soon after.
‘Mr. International’ sees overly produced beats and played out crooning offer limp support to Talib’s quick-fire bars, whilst ‘I’m On One’ sees the album stumble over another ill-informed stylistic choice. The braggadocio here doesn’t convince, paling in comparison to the self-aggrandizing ‘Palookas’. Instead there’s the sour taste of Kweli and his humourless cohort dumbing down; an idea that sits uncomfortably with Kweli’s informed flow and breadth of allusion. It is this disparity – both within and between tracks – that contributes to a sense of disunity. It’s one of the album’s greatest failings, partially reinforcing the very qualities departures such as ‘I’m On One’ actively seeks to eschew.
The desire to cater to the many is all too apparent again on the saccharin ‘Ain’t Waiting’. It sits uncomfortably with what’s so good about this project – namely the raw, simmering hip-hop focused on beats, rhymes and life. Fortunately, the shifting piano on ‘Cold Rain’ drags ‘Gutter Rainbows’ back on track, and sees Kweli waging lyrical war on society and its ills. These ills again raise their head on the exceptional ‘Tater Tot’. The sing-song title is a misnomer; make no mistakes – this is a dark track. Sparse arrangements allow the rapper space to get off those ill rhymes, whilst the haunting paranoid hook, as relentless as Kweli’s flow, demands attention in the face of the gun shots and sirens that pepper the track.
‘How You Love Me’ and ‘Uh Oh’ are both imbued with the same urgency borne from the streets. Jean Grae’s brilliant cameo on ‘Uh Oh’ escalates violently as the beat builds. More than holding her own, there’s a threatening physicality to her unladylike rhymes which Kweli wisely gives centre stage.
Whilst ‘Gutter Rainbows’ suffers heavily at the hand of Kweli’s desire not to be pigeonholed, it does not detract from the Brooklyn rapper’s consistently slick delivery. He is a master wordsmith and his skill abounds even when the album troughs. Despite the talent however, the album is less than its constituent parts. While it bangs in places with Kweli spitting seemingly limitless next level bars, it isn’t coherent enough to form the ‘Gutter Rainbows’ we were promised.
Words: Joseph Clarke-Knowles
Gutter Rainbows is out 25th January on Duckdown.
