“There’s no such thing as a free lunch”
“The best things in life are free”
The list goes on, right?
I first learned of the Talib Kweli/Madlib collaboration album, Liberation, about two months ago. I thought to myself, “Man, that promises to be a monster” and appropriately thought to make sure I had some funds earmarked to kop it the day it dropped. When I learned on New Year’s Day that Kweli and Madlib decided to make the album available for free download (for one week only), all of the “getting something for free” maxims instantly started running through my head as the album downloaded to my hard drive at 193 kb/second.
It turns out that the best things in life are free.
Madlib on production is enough to propel the worst artist to near-4 mic status. The beats and sonic landscapes are extremely diverse yet easy going. At its worst, Madlib’s skill and deftness around the boards is awe-inspiring. Just when you think you have Madlib figured out by virtue of his dense catalog of work, he jumps on an album like Liberation and shows yet another side of his creative aptitude.
Known as the consummate loop-digga, Madlib really explores the more soulful (rather than jazzy) extension of his consciousness and vision on Liberation. Almost every track is tinged with his signature movie sample preludes and soul samples that make your face writhe with pleasure. Whether it’s the regal and triumphant strings on “The Show”, the sonic thump of “Engine Runnin”, or the expressive Spinners sample on “Happy Home”, Madlib creates a soundscape that is unrelenting yet complimentary of the emcee.
And what to say about Kweli?!?! Suffice to say that the Black Star alum is back to original form, perhaps better, and is the best Madlib-juxtaposed artist since MF DOOM. Kweli’s lyrics and delivery are as comfortable and fluid as they have ever been. On his landmark debut, Train of Thought, Kweli’s lyrics sounded sharp and hungry. Here, he falls more into the comfortable groove of a wily NBA veteran who can drop 30 points whenever he desires.
As far as content is concerned, the typical introspection and geo/sociopolitical insight is here, but it’s not as overt and ostentatious as some of the songs on his past albums. Kweli uses a skillful subtlety and delivery to effectively communicate the message of each song. And, his emceeing really is on another level on this album. A perfect example is his semi-slurred delivery and usage of effective pauses on tracks like “The Function” rather than trying to ambitiously fit as many words as he can in each bar as he did on his previous albums. The artistry and vision is also on another level with this album as evidenced by Kweli’s foray into bridge music on the hypnotic “Soul Music”, as well as the tasteful interspersion of his Blacksmith artists (Strong Arm Steady, et al…) on a tightly knit album that you think wouldn’t have space for them.
With four of the nine tracks clocking in under two and a half minutes, Liberation leaves you wondering about what could have been—which I suppose is the point, as this album’s purpose is to hype-up Kweli’s full length LP Eardrum—but leaves the listener with a sense of emptiness nonetheless. I guess I hate promos…especially great ones like this.
At the end of the day, this collaboration resonates in every sense of the album’s title. On the opening track Kweli says, “This exercise in freedom is called The Liberation…” followed by “Even though it’s free for the people, there ain’t no stoppin’ this.” References, I’m sure, to both his new position as independent label (Blacksmith) exec and the $Free.99 aspect of this gem.
Usually when you get something for free, in the back of your mind somewhere you know that there has to be a catch or the quality of the product is, in some way, compromised. Not here…not with a product from these two music mavens.
I spent the $9.99 I saved on a burrito, chips and salsa at Chipotle. Life is good.
