Voices from the Gutter
Word on the street is that Talib Kweli has already chosen a name for his next album: Prisoner of Conscious. It’s definitely a significant choice for Kweli. He’s always hated the label “conscious rap” even as he’s been lauded as a pillar of this mythical genre. It seems time has unfortunately proven his misgivings right. The Roots are openly allying with billionaire-funded projects to “reform” public schools. Common is lighting the White House Christmas tree. One has to wonder if “conscious” has just become a code word for “establishment.”
In the face of all this, Kweli remains as independent as ever. Some writers have attempted to take him to task for doing some very “un-conscious” things. When TheLoop21 blogger Mychal Smith accused him of selling out for recording a song with Gucci Mane, Kweli put Smith in his place, charging him with being among an all-too-prevalent cabal of writers who “would rather judge the masses as a foolish body, greatly in need of their intellectual musings…”
In short, Kweli’s going to do what Kweli’s going to do, labels and criticism be damned. That’s evidenced clearly in his choice to take a big detour from Prisoner to record and release Gutter Rainbows.
It’s a confusing move, especially since the latter is composed greatly of songs originally intended for Prisoner of
