A good oldie from one of the UK hip hop greats.

Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek have changed in the past ten years. Tek flirted with Dre and Aftermath, and dropped a couple more of his never-quite-good-enough Hi-Teknology series. Kweli hit the ground running with the excellent Quality before losing momentum with some iffy work and a vastly overrated project with Madlib. In a way, Revolutions Per Minute is an attempt to recapture what made them so good in the first place. Does it work? Um.

As an album, RPM is beautifully put together. Whatever you think about Tek and Kweli, they’ve matured, both individually and in their work together. Beats are fuller, more earthy. Raps are carefully constructed, built around developing topics. And there are some great moments here where it’s clear that both artists brought their A-game. Tek’s highlight is the atmospheric, wonderfully simple ‘City Playgrounds’, which is built around a gorgeous keyboard loop, while Kweli shines on the excellent ‘Ballad Of The Black Gold’. If this album had been trimmed down from seventeen tracks to its core moments, it would have been a classic.

Thing is, it’s hard not to feel just a little disappointed. Some moments here are just plain dull—‘Lifting Off’ and ‘In The Red’ for example—while others confound and confuse. ‘Midnight Hour’ might have Estelle’s capable vocals on it, but it sounds like it came off a Spank Rock album—and not the good bits of it, either. What was that all about?

Ultimately, this is not the Reflection Eternal you once knew. It’s a bold direction for the duo to take—and for the most part, it works brilliantly. But they still have some work to do to iron out the inconsistencies and return to their status as the most storied rap group of their era.

Words Rob Boffard
Reflection Eternal

Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal as a duo, have released another song from their album Revolutions Per Minute, which is due to be released on 18 May.

Nearly half the album has been made available before the release, and it’s hard to judge just yet. ‘City Playgrounds‘ is definitely a banger though.

Reflection Eternal just cranked up the expectations for the sophomore album Revolutions Per Minute in our books.
What must be the lead single to the album, ‘Midnight Hour‘, features Estelle and is an absolute banger. An updated ‘Blast‘, anyone?

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The group’s devoted following around the globe are eagerly awaiting the release. Some of the Beatnik staff will not hear or see anything about it until a physical copy of the complete product is in their hands.

Reflection Eternal have already released the RE:Union Mixtape and the star-studded collaboration with Jay Electronica, Mos Def and J. Cole ‘Just Begun‘ ahead of the album. And now, their next single ‘In This World‘ is out. Let’s just say that the sampling of Jay-Z for the chorus is more than warranted. Download it here.

Kweli and Hi-Tek speak on the single