Quality

After collaborations with Mos Def (1998's Black Star) and Hi-Tek (2000's Reflection Eternal), underground journeyman Talib Kweli finally emerges fully solo with Quality. As an MC, Kweli is still as incisive as ever--his distinctive, darting flow stabs its way across every song and, as one of hip-hop's better thinkers, he covers a wide range of moods and ideas. As a verbal ass-whupper, Kweli unloads on songs like "Rush," "Shock Body," and "Guerrilla Monsoon Rap" (featuring the Roots' Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch), but he takes things much further than just the lyricist's lounge. "Get By," produced beautifully by Kayne West, is the conscious hustler's anthem, while "Where Do We Go" muses on death as thoughtfully and introspectively as "Joy" (with Mos Def) delves into the wonders of birth. "The Proud" tackles American jingoism in a time of terror, providing a much needed dose of skepticism when patriotic sentimentalism has free reign. Though Kweli's thoughts are coherent throughout, Quality as a whole lacks a certain cohesion--there's no single guiding vision that glues all the pieces together, and the album's production-by-ensemble doesn't help. This is a solid album no question, but especially compared to ambitious contemporaneous concept albums by peers such as Common and the Roots, Quality feels unexpectedly conventional--a strong collection of songs in need of a unifying force. --Oliver Wang