''Liberation'' is a collaborative album by

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

and

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...

. It was made available as a free download from

Stones Throw Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. ''LA Weekly' ...

's Rappcats website, and Kweli and Madlib's MySpace pages for the first week of 2007, beginning New Year's Eve 2007. It was removed about a week later. One cover for the album is an adaptation of a piece by guerrilla artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

, and an alternative cover (given away as a print-ready download) is a collage of Talib Kweli, a dollar sign, and the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

Reception

A.J. Henriques of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' gave ''Liberation'' a grade of A−, commenting that "Talib Kweli sounds more energized rhyming over Madlib's production than he has in years" and "Madlib has crafted his most traditionally rappable beats since his work with

Lootpack Lootpack is an American hip hop group signed to Stones Throw Records with members Madlib, Wildchild, and DJ Romes. They made their first appearance on the 1993 debut album by Tha Alkaholiks, '' 21 & Over''. The first vinyl by Lootpack, ''Il ...

." It was ranked at 53 on ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' "101 Hip-Hop Albums of 2007" list.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberation (Talib Kweli And Madlib Album) 2007 albums Collaborative albums Concept albums Talib Kweli albums Madlib albums Albums produced by Madlib