''Train of Thought'' is the debut album of American hip hop duo

Reflection Eternal Reflection Eternal is an American hip hop duo composed of emcee Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek. They released their first album, ''Train of Thought'', in 2000. They have since released a mixtape, ''The RE: Union'', in late December 2009, and t ...

, released October 17, 2000 on

Rawkus Records Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One). Label heads Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then s ...

. Collaborating as a duo,

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

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 DJ and

hip hop producer Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "s ...

Hi-Tek Tony Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek (born May 5, 1976), is an American rapper and record producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom Hi- ...

recorded the album during 1999 to 2000, following their individual musical work that gained notice in New York's underground scene during the late 1990s. Kweli had previously worked with rapper

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

as the duo Black Star,Benaquist, Steven
Review: ''Train of Thought''

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

. Retrieved on 2009-12-08. and Hi-Tek had served as producer on the duo's debut album.

Critical reception

''Train of Thought'' was well received by music critics. ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' writer Kyla Kyles said, "With a flurry of metaphors and below-the-basement underground beats, this train is on the right track. This disc proves that Kweli is a deep-thinking, gifted MC, and Hi Tek is an emerging wax master."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Matt Conaway compared Reflection Eternal's music to the work of the

Native Tongues The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal me ...

collective, while writing that the album "houses enough merit to establish Talib as one of this generation's most poetic MCs". ''

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 ...

'' writer Dave Heaton described Talib Kweli as "a hyper-articulate MC with a revolutionary's mind and a sensitive poet's heart, but he's also a world-class battle MC, able to rip other MCs' rhymes apart in a quick second". Kathryn Farr of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called ''Train of Thought'' "the rare socially aware hip-hop record that can get fists pumping in a rowdy nightclub". ''

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'' critic Sam Eccleston wrote of Kweli's boastful lyrics, "Kweli uses the rhythm as a foundation, building rambling, baroque rhyme structures on top of them, exhibiting his cock-eyed 'skills'. This kind of braggadocio doesn't weaken the effort in the same way his moralizing self-canonization does, if only because he can often back those claims up". Noah Callahan-Bever of ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' shared a similar sentiment, writing "''Reflection Eternal''s great weakness is Kweli's excessive preaching about the state of hip hop, but at least he cares". In ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004),

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Caramanica received his ba ...

called it "thick with fierce street raps ('Down for the Count' and 'Ghetto Afterlife'), maudlin soul ('Love Language'), and the type of insightful versifying Kweli has made his stock-in-trade ('Memories Live' and 'This Means You')".

Track listing

Sample credits

Sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

information for ''Train of Thought'' adapted from TheBreaks.Rap Sample FAQ Search: Reflection Eternal
TheBreaks. Retrieved on 2009-12-08. Move Something *"Shaft's Mama" by

Charlie Whitehead Charlie Whitehead (September 12, 1942 – June 26, 2015) was a soul singer from Franklin, Virginia. Whitehead moved to New York City in 1968 and was subsequently signed to Musicor's R&B subsidiary, Dynamo Records, by Charlie Foxx. At Dynamo, W ...

This Means You *"Cloud in My Sunshine" by Redbone Too Late *"Reverie" by Tomita *"Passepied" by Tomita Memories Live *"I Can't Stand the Rain" by

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

*"Carol Ann" by

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

Ghetto Afterlife *"Tomorrow I May Not Feel the Same" by

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful son ...

Love Language *"Welcome" by

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is pos ...

Love Speakeasy *"Welcome" by

Soul Rebels *"Funky Music" by

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Eternalists *"Follow the Leader" by Eric B. & Rakim Big Del from Da Natti *"Divided Reality" by

Bo Hansson Bo Hansson (10 April 1943 – 23 April 2010) was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s. Early life and musical career Hansson spent his early life in a remote vil ...

Good Mourning *"Dizzy" by

Hugo Montenegro Hugo Mario Montenegro (September 2, 1925 – February 6, 1981) was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio M ...

C.R.E.A.M. "C.R.E.A.M." (an acronym of "Cash Rules Everything Around Me") is a song by the American hardcore hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released on January 31, 1994 by Loud Records, as the second single from their debut studio album ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...

" by

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

Personnel

*Rick James - Producer *Hi-Tek - Producer, Engineer, Executive Producer, Mixing *Weldon Irvine - Keyboards, Producer *Tracie - Background Vocals *Owen Brown - Fiddle *De La Soul - Performer *Derrick Gardner - Trumpet *Troy Hightower - Engineer, Mixing *Kool G Rap - Performer *Guy Snider - Engineer *Teodross Avery - Saxophone *Ken Ifill - Mixing *Vinia Mojica - Vocals *Les Nubians - Performer *Xzibit - Performer *Steve Souder - Mixing *Chris Athens - Mastering *Mos Def - Performer *Talib Kweli - Vocals, Producer, Executive Producer *Monique Walker - Background Vocals *Carlisle Young - Mixing *Rah Digga - Performer *Asi - Design, Layout Design *Rikki Stein - Liner Notes *Bassi Kolo Percussion Group - Percussion *Big Del - Background Vocals *Crossfader Chris - Cutting Engineer *Dave Dar - Engineer, Mixing *Darcel - Background Vocals *Donte - Background Vocals *Katushia - Background Vocals *Jerome Lagarrigue - Illustrations, Cover Illustration *Little Tone - Background Vocals *Neb Luv - Background Vocals *Nonye - Vocals *Tiye Phoenix - Vocals, Background Vocals *Kendra Ross - Vocals, Background Vocals *Imani Uzuri - Background Vocals, Vocal Arrangement *Tiyi Willingham - Background Vocals *Willo - Design, Layout Design

Album singles

Chart history

;Album ;Singles

Notes

References

External links

*
Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Album Review
at RapReviews {{Authority control 2000 debut albums Talib Kweli albums Hi-Tek albums Rawkus Records albums Albums produced by Hi-Tek Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios