Talib Kweli The Beautiful Struggle Turns 20 Years Old

Talib Kweli is one of the nicest lyricists the game has seen in the last 25 years. Kweli released his first album alongside Mos Def when they were known as Black Star. The Black Star joint is one of the more influential joints to ever come out. The album dropped at the end of September in 1998. Less than two years later, Kweli teamed with Hi-Tek for the Reflection Eternal project. Two years after that, Talib Kweli would release his debut, solo project called Quality. Quality would go gold and further stamped Kweli as a dope lyricist. In September of 2004, Talib Kweli dropped his second solo project called The Beautiful Struggle. The Beautiful reached top 5 in the United States for top R&B & Hip Hop albums. The album features guest appearances such as Common, Faith Evans, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige and John Legend.

While it didn’t sell the number of units as his debut project, it was just as good. The album featured production from Kanye West, The Neptunes, Supa Dave West, Just Blaze and Hi-Tek. The first single off the album, “I Try” featuring Mary J. Blige, was popular as a music video, followed by the second single “Never Been in Love“. I Try and Never Been in Love are two of my favorite Kweli joints ever. This is an amazing album and one that constantly stays in rotation. Check out my top 5 tracks from The Beautiful Struggle below. After that, check out the track listing and stream link below.

Top 5 Tracks: Never Been in Love, I Try, Ghetto Show, Around My Way, and Going Hard