About

Prisoner of Conscious is the fifth solo studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released in 2013 by Javotti Media.

The album features guest appearances from Nelly, Miguel, Curren$y, Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Am-brosius, Busta Rhymes and Ryan Leslie along with production by RZA, Boi-1da, Harry Fraud, S1, Ter-race Martin, Oh No, and J. Cole among others.

“One of Kweli’s grand themes is his love of music, period. You hear it when he hypes up his guests while they’re performing, like the part of “High Life” where he proclaims he’s “loving this damn track / loving the hand claps.” You hear it on “Turnt Up” where the song starts with a recognizable Eric B and Rakim beat and then he alludes to their lyrics too, in celebration of classic hip-hop. “Before He Walked”, featuring Nelly and singer Abby Dobson, is explicitly about love of music. After Kweli talks about the urgency he feels all of the time and Dobson sings of “my joy / my heart / my music,” Nelly starts off serious and passionate – “I’m from a small city / but I had big dreams / had some good ideas / but I had better schemes.” His verse traverses death, birth and the ways music can be a personal savior. Kweli sounds just as driven, his main message being a central one for the album – “music is emotion / that’s lost on the intellectuals.” Also – “we listen to the same songs / but we hear ‘em different.”” - PopMatters

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