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What frustrates about The Beautiful Struggle is that its flaws are purely musical: Kweli remains the fist-raising visionary who burned "The Manifesto" at the Lyricist Lounge with the same fiery pen that blazed "African Lounge".
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MojoIt is Kweli's diligently intelligent worldview, dextrous wordplay and often breathtaking flow that enrapture. [Jan 2005, p.96]
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On The Beautiful Struggle, Kweli is savvy enough to play the rap industry's rigged game without sacrificing his soul or compromising his integrity.
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SpinWhile [Quality] cautiously courted the mainstream, he's made mass appeal Job No. 1 of late. [Oct 2004, p.112]
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Entertainment WeeklySometimes the messages get as heavy as the sharp, thumping tracks, but a few jokes and guest spots... help lighten the enlightenment. [1 Oct 2004, p.73]
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Between the hooks, he's as earnest as ever, but now he's dressed to party.
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BlenderThere's little unity of sound, but more than enough passion and unity of purpose. [Oct 2004, p.125]
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"I Try," featuring Blige and produced by Kanye West, comes off as trying too hard to re-create Kweli's "Quality" hit, "Get By." The album works best when it goes with the flow.
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While he's still the 21st century's answer to KRS-One, a rapper who is simultaneously intelligent and engaging, he needs to work with producers who are capable of sharing that vision with the masses in an equally engaging way. At times "The Beautiful Struggle" achieves this perfection combination, and at other times you're left loving the lyrics but lacking in headnodding dopeness.
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So if some of the songs sound a little too catchy, it’s because they’re supposed to. Kweli’s trying to draw you in for something important.
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VibeWell-crafted... offers a continuation of Quality's attempt to expand rap's topical terrain. [Oct 2004, p.185]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 24
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Mixed: 3 out of 24
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Negative: 3 out of 24
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EmahunnCDec 12, 2004
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VinceHOct 22, 2004
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FreemanJan 28, 2005