Talib Kweli-Gutter Rainbows
Javotti Media/3D

Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli seems to have been on a strategic mission with his appropriately titled new album “Gutter Rainbows”. That mission could be simply to provide the audience with an excellent album. While one may think that this is a simple, straight forward goal that many artists would strive for, in this day and age where records are disposable at the click of a mouse, many artists in the industry strive to make an album that will appeal to the record execs, who then decides what is “marketable” based on the current radio trend. Kweli has released an album that would appeal to the culture that made him who he is today…the Hip-Hop culture. “Gutter Rainbows” indeed sounds like a beautiful struggle…no pun intended. The title track, produced by Australian beatsmith M-Phazes, sounds like something Marvin Gaye would have made if he was living deep in the belly of Harlem, as Kweli chats “It’s the voice of the voiceless, hope for the hopeless…” on the hook. Marco Polo provides the raw, soundtrack-ish beat for “Palookas” featuring Sean Price which is surely one of the standout tracks. “Gutter Rainbows” also contains beautiful soundscapes such as “How You Love Me” and “Wait For You” featuring Kendra Ross, with it’s jazzy synths and horn riffs that makes one remember when listening to Hip-Hop actually made you feel good. With many Hip-Hop albums these days consisting of more dance tracks than actual Hip-Hop tunes, Talib Kweli has achieved the goal of releasing a quality Hip-Hop album at its finest.