''The Beautiful Struggle'' is the second studio album by American

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 ...

. The album was released on September 28, 2004, by

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 si ...

and

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. The album features guest appearances such as Common,

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige and

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

. The album featured production from Kanye West, The Neptunes, Supa Dave West,

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Blaze attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his mu ...

and

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 H ...

. The first single off the album, "I Try" featuring Mary J. Blige, was fairly popular as a music video, followed by the second single "Never Been In Love".

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Sample Credits * "Around My Way" contains replayed elements of "

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a song by British rock group the Police from their fourth album, ''Ghost in the Machine''. The song, notable for featuring a pianist (uncommon in Police songs), dates back to a demo recorded in the house ...

" by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. *

Mark Batson Mark Batson is an American producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter an ...

– piano , keyboards * Steve Baughman – mixing * Elizabeth "Yummy" Bingham – additional vocals * Mary J. Blige – featured artist * Tom Brick – mastering * David Brown – engineer * Charlemagne – producer * Andrew Coleman – engineer * Common – featured artist * Dave Dar – engineer , mixing , co-executive producer * Dion – additional vocals *

– featured artist , additional vocals * Brian Garten – engineer * Anthony Hamilton – featured artist *

– producer and engineer *

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

– producer * Jun Ishizeki – assistant engineer * Glen Jeffries – guitar *

– producer * Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton – mixing * J.R. – producer , additional keyboards *

Krondon Marvin Jones III (born July 9, 1976), also known as Krondon, is an American rapper and actor from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the group Strong Arm Steady, along with rappers Phil Da Agony and Mitchy Slick. As an actor Jones portra ...

– additional vocals *

– main artist, executive producer *

– featured artist * Alan Mason – vocal engineer for Mary J. Blige *

Midi Mafia The MIDI Mafia is a music production duo consisting of American Bruce Waynne (born Waynne Nugent) from Brooklyn, New York and Canadian Dirty Swift (born Kevin Risto) from Ottawa, Ontario. Together as Midi Mafia since 2003, they are most notable for ...

– producers * Tiffany Mynon – additional vocals * Jamia Simone Nash – additional vocals * Olivia Charnae Nash – additional vocals * Axel Niehaus – mixing * Bob Power – mixing * Res – featured artist , additional vocals * Justin Shturtz – assistant engineer * Corey Smyth – executive producer * Spacey T – guitar * Phil Tan – mixing * Alex Thomas – additional vocals * Antwan "Amadeus" Thompson – producer * Tone Mason – producer * Kanye West – producer * Supa Dave West – producer * Pharrell Williams – producer and additional vocals * Dave Young – additional vocals * Anthony Zeller – assistant engineer , mixing assistant

Chart positions

References

External links

* Talib Kweli albums 2004 albums Rawkus Records albums Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Midi Mafia Albums produced by the Neptunes Albums produced by J. R. Rotem Albums produced by Hi-Tek Albums produced by Tone Mason Geffen Records albums {{2004-hiphop-album-stub