Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder - Indie 500

Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder
Indie 500
2015

9th Wonder and Talib's style have always been a match made in heaven. 9th Wonder with his smooth soulful style and Talib with his at times aggressive social conscious lyrics the two when together make great music. You could easily say however that this new record Indie 500 is dated however a better description would be classic. This album is stripped down from the bullshit, it is about the time when hip hop was about saying something rather than making club bangers. There is no champagne, molly or strippers on this record those kinds of thing don't matter to these two or the cavalcade of features the bring on the record. "Pay Ta Dues" is a call out to the very people who find instant fame in the rap world without taking in to account the history and depth that the genre has. An absolute bright spot on the record is Rapsody. She brings some of the fiercest lyrics on the record saying "If I had a penis your penis would be hard as a brick is/ saying I'm king on some rap shit". She features on three songs and absolutely crushes each one that she touches.

Lyrically the album is untouchable, however 9th Wonder seems to just stick in the lane that he has built for himself for over a decade. His beats are interesting for awhile, but after 13 tracks of the same drums paired with a classic soul song they become a bit tiresome. At some point during the album the message is received, but the preaching continues. There really needs to be some kind of break up on the record between the preachy stuff and the more fun aspects, but that clearly is not the point of this album. Talib and 9th Wonder wanted to make something important and immediate thus the rushed feeling you get when listening to this record. Clearly Talib Kweli can still rap and 9th Wonder can make solid beats, but there needs to be something new something refreshing in order to take this album to the next level.

6.8 out of 10