Gutter Rainbows is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. Originally intended to be released in only digital format, it was announced that Duck Down Music would step in to see the album got a CD release,[1] including an import edition and a special edition with extras.[2] The album was released on January 25, 2011, through Javotti Media and 3D.
In the United States, the album debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200, number 7 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, number 5 on the Top Rap Albums and number 4 on the Independent Albums charts with 13,900 copies sold in its first week.[3] The album fell 73 spots in its second week selling nearly 20,000 units in two weeks combined.[4]
Gutter Rainbows was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 71 based on twenty-one reviews.[6] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 6.6 out of 10, based on twelve reviews.[5]
Chase McMullen of Beats Per Minute praised the album, stating it "may well be the best thing Kweli has done since Quality".[7] Nate Patrin of Pitchfork resumed: "in short, it's familiar without feeling rote".[12] Alex Young of Consequence wrote: "in that right, Gutter Rainbows is the ultimate success. However, in terms of accessibility, he's done better work, and this release will probably just go down as a good, but not a great Talib Kweli album".[9] Mosi Reeves of Spin found "the production (from Ski Beatz, 88-Keys, others) adds florid, melodramatic choruses to jazzy boom-bap tracks, blunting the impact of Kweli's dogged street intellectualism".[15] Jeff Weiss of Los Angeles Times wrote: "accordingly, Gutter Rainbows too often feels like an unfulfilled promise--an excess of concrete and not enough vibrancy".[11]
In mixed reviews, Slava "Roman Cooper" Kuperstein of HipHopDX stated: "Gutter Rainbows is a fairly easy spin, and can go into the listener's steady rotation in a pinch. That being said, this feels a bit like a subdued version of Eardrum".[10] David Amidon of PopMatters noted that "despite limp production, Kweli is often a great presence here, and fans certainly won't be disappointed".[13]Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone concluded: "Gutter Rainbows is unabashed conscious-rap classicism, with a luscious, string-swamped soul sound and rhymes that tout the MC's left-of-center cred".[14]Cokemachineglow's Colin McGowan wrote: "there's a lot of rappity-rap clichés at work here: overwrought punchlines, vague disses, bitching about the industry. Kweli spends a good chunk of the album acting like a drunk, unemployed superhero, stumbling into supermarkets to aid old ladies whose purses are fully in their possession".[8] David Morris of Tiny Mix Tapes stated: "Kweli still has an ear for beats, and despite some particular low points here, his lyrics were always overshadowed by his flow, which is as sharp as ever".[16]
