Reflection Eternal featuring Home Skillit : 2000 Seasons (Rawkus, 1997)
Mood : Info For The Streets (Blunt, 1997)
Reflection Eternal featuring Mos Def & Mr Man: Fortified Live (Rawkus, 1997) (Bonus)
If you ask me, this 12” contains everything I want to hear from Talib Kweli. When you come up with two powerful songs like Fortified Live and 2000 Seasons it’s quite hard to follow up with something of the same quality.
So of course later when their album came out (like what, 4 years after this single ?!) they had rave reviews, written by people who either didn’t even know about this single or were giving props to the idea of Reflection E, the idea of an independant scene. Thus missing the point : Train Of Thought was boring.
Regardless of Rawkus unlimited sticker budget, the Fortified Live 12” was a genuine indie record, with two unpolished demos pressed up on an umastered vinyl. The static that was Hi-Tek’s trademark was nowhere to be found on the LP. Most of his loops sounded like they were sampled off of CDs. Check Mood’s Info For The Streets for a good example of a scratchy sample à la Hi-Tek.
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17 comments:
Yo, thanks for this. I've been living in a state of flux for so many years with my vinyl all packed away on the other side of the country that it's quite likely I actually haven't heard this shit since the late 90's, early 00's indie boom.
As I listened just now nostalgia hit me like you wouldn't believe. My God.
If you hadn't already done me such a service by posting this I'd ask if you could throw up "Fortified Live" too.
Merci Slurg, c'est toute une epoque ce maxi pour moi, d'ailleurs si tu avais la photo de PE qui inspire cette pochette...
Bachir
it's a pleasure sometimes to see someone shares yr opinion. I feel too that mos def fell off after his rawkus 12"..
However, of the 3 songs I've heard from his upcoming Eardrum, they were all quality (pun intended). There's a UGk joint, a J.Rawls jawn for the ladies, and the madlib banger. I never was in Kweli's corner because he repped a stale alternative to mainstream rap. i am checking for his newness because this far into his career and after maybe 2.5 tight cuts since this 12", the idea of what a solid kweli Lp would sound like is making me wonder
i couldn't agree more. "2000 seasons" was definative kweli, one of the best hip-hop cuts that year, period...i remember seeing him in concert not long after, trying to get the crowd hyped on "Move Somethin'". Shit almost seemed like impending doom.
"Train of Thought" was only disappointing because "2000 Seasons" was that f*cking good. There were a couple of joints on it, but you're right, shit was waaay too slick. "Too Late" still bangs, though. As far as I'm concerned, that was the cut that certified the death of the old, as far as mainstream goes...
I agree that Mos fell off after his first 12". Black on Both Sides is a very, VERY average album for me. In fact, i don't even rate it. I don't understand how people can say its a classic.
Mind you, i fully disagree with your view oin Reflection Eternal. I was only 14 when that came out and bought it the first week it was released. I've lived with it ever since and still play it from time to time to this day. Its a great album.
Yo, my thoughts exactly! His verse on L-Fudge's What If? and the spoken word joint on the Mood LP made him my favorite emcee. Back when Black Star dropped, I thought he could do no wrong. I also thought he had completely overshadowed Mos. Now (what has it been, 8 yrs), I think Mos comes of better on the LP, but Kweli still shines. Train of Thought was a major dissapointment! Like Illmatic and Soul on Ice, at least we have these gems, still cracking to perfection!
Great post!
going to check your site alot!
J.
1. Reflection Eternal Album: On my Top 5 All-Time Favorite List. WORD!
2. MOOD Track: Goddamn... I crazy slept on this one... what a dope-azz Track... Gotta have that now.
PS: Great Blog you got. ONE
1. Reflection Eternal Album: On my Top 5 All-Time Favorite List. WORD!
2. MOOD Track: Goddamn... I crazy slept on this one... what a dope-azz Track... Gotta have that now.
PS: Great Blog you got. ONE
1. Reflection Eternal Album: On my Top 5 All-Time Favorite List. WORD!
2. MOOD Track: Goddamn... I crazy slept on this one... what a dope-azz Track... Gotta have that now.
PS: Great Blog you got. ONE
man Homeskillit is on '2000 seasons' is he?? if so where is he?? and '2000 seasons' and 'the manifesto' are some of kweli's most shinning moments, and as far as 'train of thought' goes, 'the express' should of been on there and 'good mourning' and 'memories live' are my joints..
T&B
I think Homeskillit is just doing the chant at the end "It's the, it's the reflection" but , hey, if he's credited on the 12" ,I credit him on the blog !
What? Train of Thought was tight. I think that 2000 Seasons is Hi-Tek's best track, but Kweli got busy on Train of Thought.
this was a classic rawkus 12 inch masterpiece. thanks for the sampling
I just wrote about the appearance of these tracks on the Soundbombing compilation. "Fortified Live" is that good shit, while I'm not really feeling "2000 Seasons".
I like your site, though. Looking for feedback on my blog at http://hiphopisntdead.blogspot.com.
Thanks.
Totally agree - i thought Mos Def and Kweli both dropped duds after the main Rawkus 'era'. Kweli sounds all 'thurg' now.
But 2000 Seasons - that shit is beautiful.
Great blog keep it up!
i know i am late on this one, but i absolutely go d`accord with you. 2000 Seasons and Fortified Live both got me Jaw dropping. The Raw Production and it took me like 7 Years to figure out the Samples, ma Fault i know.
Bought some Kweli Stuff after that but always got disappointed because of the way to clean hi-tek Production.
Since i saw some comparing it to Mos - his twelve on Rawkus rocked as well as the Album, which is about his master piece till now.
Still looking through your Blog - first time visitor and looking to find the Laquan - and the B-Side wins again Joint, lol
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