Stage Buzz: Talib Kweli

ilentertainer | June 24, 2013

As the son of both a college professor and administrator and brother to a former Supreme Court clerk – not to mention a boarding/elite high school and sometime private university alum himself – it’s not surprising that Talib Kweli has, since his musical genesis alongside Mos Def, been counted among the most articulate of rappers and included among the more socially responsible (as opposed to the more gangsta/misogynist school). The title of his latest and fifth solo recording, Prisoner Of Conscious, would seem to underscore this stature and the music itself – richly produced and often punctuated with lush string arrangements and piano embellishments – in its apparent bridging of classic R&B with cutting-edge rap is consistent with Kweli’s self-positioning apart from his mainstream peers. But outside of the spontaneously novel call-and-response opener of Kweli recorded live during a visit to Occupy Wall Street, there’s not much this time out that’s better than what we’ve heard from him before (Thursday@Milwaukee Summerfest.)