By Odeisel

Never let it be said that Talib Kweli was a lazy MC. After a well done Reflection Eternal album earlier this year, the Brooklyn rapper readies himself for his upcoming solo album Gutter Rainbows. That’s aside from detonating guest spots and running his Blacksmith label. This salvo from Gutter, “Cold Rain” is a hard hitting commentary on society with a religious bent.

The beat is a bit off balance, with a staccato drum that detaches then attaches itself to a piano driven run. There is a wail for effect and a gospel-type vocalist that adds drama to the track.  The offbeat on beat structure of the song provides Kweli with the opportunity to show his skill level, as this is a hard rhythm to keep. The BK MC handles it with ease.

Kweli is his usually dense self, with layers of lines and religious allegory. He references the Bhagavad Gita (The Hindu Scripture) and the Dali Lama in the first few bars next to fashionistas, thugs and goons; fitting whomever you can imagine under his lyrical umbrella. He takes rappers to task for the lies they tell the people and the overly hyped street tales foisted as “reality.” He takes society to task for allowing religion to poison people against each other (which of course runs counter to the ideals of any holy book anyway). “If you take away the freedoms that we’ve been fighting to gain, then you disrespect the soldiers you asking to die in vain,” rages Kweli finding fault with the advance of Big Brother and the monitoring of public conversation points like Twitter.

The track is short and sweet with a masterful job done by Ski on the boards and an adept handling of that track by Kweli, how continues his streak of excellent emceeing. “Cold Rain.” Enjoy

Talib Kweli-Cold Rain

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