Talib Kweli To Release New Album This July

Brooklyn MC, Talib Kweli, will release his third solo album, Ear Drum, on July 24 on Warner Bros./Blacksmith Music. The LP is Kweli’s first since 2004’s The Beautiful Struggle and will feature production from Kanye West, Madlib, will.i.am and DJ Hi-Tek. “The image of the ear and of the drum, which are powerful enough by themselves, but put them together and it’s an instrument in your body that helps you hear,” Kweli says of the album’s title. “They’re also two very simple, yet powerful words. I wanted to focus on finding a sound that makes you move, and that’s where the word eardrum popped in my head.” Standout songs on the album include “Soon The New Day,” which features Norah Jones, “Say Something” with Jean Grae and “the sexy first single,” “Hot Thing.” “We need to challenge our audience,” Kweli says on the album’s direction. “But we also need to challenge ourselves to know that whatever our new experiences are, we can write about them, be creative, and bring that to an audience without them feeling alienated.”