2004 has been a big year for Talib Kweli. It got a jump-start when ’03 ended with Jay-Z’s The Black Album, where the Jiggaman immortalized his fellow Brooklyn brethren on “Moment Of Clarity”, where he stated “If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically, Talib Kweli”. From there, the hype for Talib’s next solo opus, The Beautiful Struggle began to build, but it came to a head a little bit earlier than expected. A link to a downloadable, unfinished version of the album was posted on OkayPlayer.Com’s message board by user “Imrickjamesbitch”, and while this set Talib off, even inspiring him to confront the poster in the forum, Kweli wasn’t finished yet. In fact, he came back just a few weeks later with The Beautiful Mix CD, a street level release that featured 13 raw tracks not included on the leaked (or final version) of Struggle, hosted by Rick James, bitch (actually, Dave Chappelle; but talk about one-upping the bootleggers). However this story would even take a stranger turn yet, when The Beautiful Mix CD got shut down by EMI lawyers, fresh off their Grey Album witch hunt, thanks to a Beatles sample included on the incredible track “Lonely People”. Followed by a city-to-city tour with MF Doom, and most recently a XXL Magazine cover, Talib closes out this banner year of struggles - both beautiful and ugly - with his long-awaited, aptly titled sophomore solo release. 

      But longtime fans know that Kweli has recorded more than just two albums. His input can be found on five full-length releases, starting with duets, Blackstar (w/ Mos Def) and Reflection Eternal (w/Hi-Tek), then his official solo debut, Quality, and of course the aforementioned Beautiful Mix CD, to today’s Beautiful Struggle. While early on, he was looked at as Mos Def’s skilled partner in Blackstar, he made a name for himself with the now classic Reflection Eternal LP, which featured proved Kweli could hold his own as an emcee and an artist. He secured a loyal underground fanbase with Reflection Eternal, and the slightly more accessible Quality worked as a stepping stone into the mainstream, but still maintained the underground edge. This natural progression seen on his last two LP’s leaves only one place for Talib Kweli to go with Beautiful Struggle: commercial. 

      Unfortunately, longtime fans of Reflection Eternal may shun Beautiful Struggle, thanks to it’s wide variety of R&B guests (Mary J. Blige, Faith Evens, Anthony Hamilton, Res, & John Legend), and commercially driven production, but that’s the chance Talib is taking with this LP. Nevertheless, while some might negatively tag this LP as “mainstream”, others will see its brighter side, instead labeling it “mature” - you know, grown folks’ music. While audiences will be split on this LP like the Bush/Kerry election, nobody will be able to argue that Talib is one of the top ten most gifted lyricists currently holding a major label recording contract, and he undoubtedly proves that on virtually every track on this LP. 

      But before the praise, let’s get the bitching out of the way. The opener, “Going Hard”, is a perfect example of the dichotomy of this LP, pitting Talib on big, apocalyptic overproduced symphony of sounds, saved by his lyrical wit and wisdom. Same can be said for “We Got The Beat”, which midway through the LP meshes the perfect beat of “Planet Rock” with hard-rock guitars and Res’ freestyle inspired hook (think Shannon, not Eminem). Here again, we get an overproduced “Bombs Over Baghdad”-esque mash-up of multiple sounds and styles, again propelled by Talib’s lyrics more than anything. And both “Work It Out” and “A Game” suffer from club-driven keyboard concoctions that don’t compliment Talib’s complexity and intelligence. But why would it? As he laments on the Kanye West produced “I Try”, “Label wants a song about the bubbly life / I have trouble tryin’ to write / some shit to bang in the club through the night / when people suffer tonight / lord knows I try.” 

       And it’s the songs like “I Try” which pit Talib in his strongest form on this LP. Despite assumptions that R&B vocals on many of the tracks would water down the album, the soulful music instead inspires him to write some of his best material, as on the John Legend featured / Police influenced “Around My Way”, where Talib breaks down religion vs. spirituality. The same feelings found on tracks like “For Women” and “Memories Live” on the Reflection Eternal LP, can also be found on the last four tracks of “Beautiful Struggle”. “Ghetto Show” joins Talib with Common Sense for a positive Sunday morning head nodder, soulfully led by Anthony Hamilton’s hook. “Black Girl Pain” is a wonderful, heartfelt dedication to women in his life, with a surprise appearance from Jean Grae, who shines equally as bright next to Talib on the mic. “Never Been In Love” shows Talib’s more sensitive side, with a gorgeous Just Blaze beat, that plays like a kinder, gentler “What We Do”. The album closes out with the title track, “Beautiful Struggle”, this time led by sampled vocals that sing “The revolution’s here / I want to lead you off your path / Try to change the world / so please excuse me while I laugh”. The title track just about adds up the sum of the song, the album, and Talib himself. This one’s a tearjerker.

      While the “underground” joints are few and far between, they still shine brightly on both the Hi-Tek produced “Back Up Offa Me” and the Neptunes assisted “Broken Glass” (don’t front - this shit is raw - great narrative, too). Nevertheless, while people will argue this point, Talib perfected his art in the underground with Reflection Eternal, so in this critic’s opinion, he’s allowed to think outside the box a little bit. Beautiful Struggle can be as mismatched as Quality at times, and it does miss the mark, here and there. But again, not once does Talib slip lyrically, and even when the lesser banging beats come on, he’s still got you hanging off of every word he says. All in all, there’s nothing ugly about Talib’s Struggle, except that fans both new and old might be afraid to embrace it.