Talib Kweli "Gutter Rainbows"

I am a huge fan of  (pardon my scenester terrminolgy) the "underground hip hop movement." Therefore I love Living Legends, Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers etc. The main reason why I love this genre is because it generally has more concern than sex, money and drugs. It's oftentimes just average Joe's who want to talk about their lives, hardships and even triumphs. It's also focused on politcs sometimes. However, there is some "mainstrem" if you dare, hip hop that I also love. I think that the Wu-Tang Clan is fantastic. As a fan of the whole genre, I am also a huge believer that the West Coast hip-hop movement is one of the most exciting things that ever happened to the states. I love Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and other "OG's". All this being said, I love the knew Talib Kweli album "Gutter Rainbows", because I think that it does a great job bridging the gap between what's considered mainstrem and what's considered underground. I'm not saying that Talib is an OG by any means. I'm just saying that I think he does an incredible job at appealing to more of a mass audience than most hip-hop artists. "Gutter Rainbows" features guest appearances from Jean Grae, Blaq Toven, and Sean Price among others. Production on the album is done by many different producers including 88 Keys, Blaq Toven, and Ski Beatz. One of the highlight tracks off the album is "Uh Oh" which features Jean Grae. The album maintains an upbeat soulful hip-hop feel all the way through. My least favorite track off the album is easily "How You Love Me", because it sounds like something off a T-Pain album which is a little too mainstrem for my liking. For people who are most interested in the "mainstream" side of things though, I'm sure it'll be a hit. Through and through this has got to be one of my favorite releases so far of 2011. I know it's early to say that, but I do sift through a lot of releases. If you're looking to put a little hop in your step check this out. Also, my first link mentioned in this post goes to UGHH.dot which is the best website for anything underground hip-hop related. Check it out.