Train of Thought (Reflection Eternal album)
2000 studio album by Reflection Eternal
Train of Thought is the debut album of American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal , released October 17, 2000, on Rawkus Records . Collaborating as a duo, rapper Talib Kweli and DJ and hip hop producer Hi-Tek 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.[ 1] [ 2] Kweli had previously worked with rapper Mos Def as the duo Black Star ,[ 3] and Hi-Tek had served as producer on the duo's debut album .[ 4]
Critical reception
Train of Thought was well received by music critics. Chicago Sun-Times 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."[ 5] AllMusic 's Matt Conaway compared Reflection Eternal's music to the work of the Native Tongues collective, while writing that the album "houses enough merit to establish Talib as one of this generation's most poetic MCs".[ 1] PopMatters 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".[ 14] Kathryn Farr of Rolling Stone called Train of Thought "the rare socially aware hip-hop record that can get fists pumping in a rowdy nightclub".[ 11]
Pitchfork 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".[ 10] Noah Callahan-Bever of Vibe 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".[ 2] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Jon Caramanica 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')".[ 15]
Track listing
#
Title
Songwriters
Producer(s)
Performer (s)
1
"Experience Dedication"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Dave Chappelle , Talib Kweli
2
"Move Somethin'"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli Nonye (background)
3
"Some Kind of Wonderful"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli
4
"The Blast "
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli, Vinia Mojica
5
"This Means You"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Dante Smith
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli, Mos Def
6
"Too Late"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Idle Warship
7
"Memories Live"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli Big Del (background), Donte (background)
8
"Africa Dream"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Weldon Irvine
Talib Kweli, Weldon Irvine , Hi-Tek (co-producer)
Talib Kweli
9
"Down for the Count"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Rashia Fisher, Alvin Joiner
Hi-Tek
Rah Digga , Talib Kweli, Xzibit
10
"Name of the Game"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli
11
"Ghetto Afterlife"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Nathaniel Wilson
Hi-Tek
Kool G Rap , Talib Kweli
12
"On My Way"
Tony Cottrell, E. Isaacs, J. Thomas
Hi-Tek
Kendra Ross , Tiye Phoenix, Vinia Mojica
13
"Love Language"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Helene Faussart, Celia Faussart
Hi-Tek
Les Nubians , Talib Kweli
14
"Love Speakeasy"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
15
"Soul Rebels"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, Kelvin Mercer, David Jude Jolicoeur, Vincent Mason
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli, De La Soul
16
"Eternalists"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli
17
"Big Del From da Natti"
Tony Cottrell, D. Geralds
Hi-Tek
Big Del
18
"Touch You"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene, D. Stanford Jr., Dave West
Hi-Tek
Dave Chappelle, Piakhan, Supa Dav West, Talib Kweli
19
"Good Mourning"
Tony Cottrell, Talib Kweli Greene
Hi-Tek
Talib Kweli
20a
"Expansion Outro"
20b
"For Women"
Nina Simone
Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli (co-producer)
Talib Kweli Darcel (background), Imani Uzuri (background), Katushia (background), Neb Luv (background), Tiye Phoenix (background), Tiyi Willingham (background), Tracie (background)
Sample credits
Sample information for Train of Thought .[citation needed ]
Move Something
This Means You
Too Late
Memories Live
Ghetto Afterlife
Love Language
Love Speakeasy
Soul Rebels
Eternalists
Big Del from Da Natti
Good Mourning
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
Single information
"The Express" (Non-album single)
Released: 2000
B-side: "Some Kind Of Wonderful"
"Move Somethin'"
Released: July 18, 2000
B-side: "Good Mourning"
"The Blast "
Released: July 16, 2001
B-side: "Down for the Count" & "Train of Thought"
"Down for the Count" (UK Only release)
Released: 2001
B-side: "Down for the Count (Solo Version)"
Chart history
Album
Chart (2000)
Peak position
US Billboard 200
17
US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
5
Singles
Year
Song
Charrt positions
US R&B/Hip-Hop
US Rap
2000
"Move Somethin'"
32
1
2001
"The Blast"
48
2
Notes
^ a b c Conaway, Matt. "Train of Thought – Reflection Eternal / Talib Kweli / Hi-Tek" . AllMusic . Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ a b Callahan-Bever, Noah (December 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal " . Vibe . Vol. 8, no. 10. p. 206. Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ Benaquist, Steven. Review: Train of Thought . Yahoo! Music . Retrieved on 2009-12-08.
^ Conaway, Matt. Review: Hi-Teknology . Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-12-08.
^ a b Kyles, Kyra (December 31, 2000). "Blockbusters among the beats" . Chicago Sun-Times . p. 13. Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ Sullivan, James (October 20, 2000). "Reflection Eternal " . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ Kabuubi, Maxine (October 13, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal (Rawkus)". The Guardian .
^ Baker, Soren (October 15, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek 'Reflection Eternal' Rawkus/Priority" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
^ Edwards, Sally. " 'Reflection Eternal' " . NME . Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
^ a b Eccleston, Sam (October 17, 2000). "Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought " . Pitchfork . Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ a b Farr, Kathryn (October 26, 2000). "Talib Kweli: Reflection Eternal " . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on May 20, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2021 .
^ Wong, Celine (December 2000). "Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal ". The Source . No. 135. pp. 254–256.
^ Jones, Steve (October 17, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal " . USA Today . Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016 .
^ Heaton, Dave (September 18, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal " . PopMatters . Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
^ Caramanica, Jon (2004). "Talib Kweli". In Brackett, Nathan ; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster . pp. 472–473 . ISBN 0-7432-0169-8 .
References
External links
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