Talib Kweli: Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free CD : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

No fake retirement or Hollywood detours for this son of Brooklyn. Talib Kweli's third album features twelve new tracks of simile-stuffed hip-hop directed at ladies "out clubbing like baby seals" and rappers "more unfortunate than Lemony Snicket." The Dave West-produced "Flash Gordon" sports old-school Whodini flair while Kweli walks "the streets of Havana/Taking pictures with kids who never seen a camera." Kweli's slight charisma deficiency is tempered by collabos with MF Doom and Jean Grae, although the Black Star reunion with Mos Def ("Supreme, Supreme") adds little to their legacy. Then there's "Ms. Hill," a soul stirrer directed at the female Fugee that's as startling as finding copies of Weekly World News among the black history in Kweli's backpack. Both a loving plea for Lauryn to return to action and a lament ("We used to kick it in the salad days/ But now she look at me like she don't know me when she see me nowadays"), it just might inspire its target to respond.