After listening to Talib Kweli spit his powerful mood provoking lyrics all over he and Clinton Sparks latest mixtape effort it’s hard to believe that the Brooklyn MC has only been doing it in the industry for the past decade. Kweli first came on the scene as a member of MODD, then he and Mos Def teamed up to form Black Star, which eventually made way for he and producer Hi-Tek to come together on the critically acclaimed Reflection Eternal album. Through the years Kweli has held it down for those yearning for some food for thought lyrics on both of his previous two solo releases. If what they say is true and the third time really is the charm then the world should definitely feel what the son of two professors, the husband of an author, and a the brother of a Yale Law School graduate has to say this time around.

Talib instantly engulfs the listener’s attention on the opening Madlib engineered “Everything Man”. On “Hostile Gospel Pt.1″ Just Blaze layers a cadence like drum pattern with a riding bass line and a somber piano riff as Talib aggressively begs for mercy on all of man kind. Talib recruits Pimp C and Bun B on the back home inspired “Country Cousins” as the three reminisce on hip hop’s blossoming years. “Holy Moly” turns out to be an all too short example of Talib’s overhead to some and insightful to others rhyme skills. On “Eat To Live” Talib offers a deep analytical look at the world’s food chain and at one point utters his dissatisfaction with the fact that “in Africa they starvin, over here the food hurts you/ cows goin mad and the chicken’s caught the bird flu”. Kanye West flexes his star power with his sarcastic word play on his self produced guest spot on “In The Mood”.

Madlib infuses a wealth of live instrumentation on “Soon The New Day” where Talib cleverly begs to differ with society. Talib goes out west to recruit Terrance Marin and Battlecat for sounds as he promotes deep religious questioning on the Lyfe Jennings assisted “Give Em Hell”. Producer Swift D laces the perfect beat for Talib as he enlists the help of the legendary KRS-One on “The Perfect Beat”. On “Oh My Stars” Talib sends a heart warming symbol of appreciation to his daughter and son alongside Musiq Soulchild. He sums up his appreciation by stating “then she ask me daddy do you know any superstars/ I looked and said don’t be silly that’s what you two are”. Talib closes out the album with the first single promoting “purpose rap” by instructing society to shut up and “Listen!!!”

Thanks to Talib Kweli’s down-to-earth and realistic subject matters Eardrum turns out to be one of the year’s top delights. It’s no assumption when it’s said that Kweli spits with a profound purpose on each and every track. The album’s only minor setback is the blandness within some of the production. Most of the beats contain a vast amount of live instrumentation which helps the album breath better, but again the overall relaxed feel makes this a perfect “intellectual mood” listen, not an anytime listen. Of course Eardrum will probably hover above the heads of most rap listeners which will ultimately land this tremendous effort under the radar!

VERDICT – 15 / 20
LYRICS: 4
PRODUCTION: 3
DELIVERY: 4
CONSISTENCY: 4