The Beautiful Struggle

2004 studio album by Talib Kweli

The Beautiful Struggle

Studio album by

Talib Kweli

Released| September 28, 2004
Recorded| 2003–2004
Genre| Alternative hip hop
Length| 53:40
Label| Rawkus, Geffen
Producer| Hi-Tek, The Neptunes, Supa Dave West, Kanye West, Just Blaze, J. R. Rotem, Midi Mafia, Charlemagne, Tone Mason, Amadeus
Talib Kweli chronology
| Quality
(2002)  | The Beautiful Struggle
(2004)  | Eardrum
(2007)

|
|

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| (66/100)[1]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
The Austin Chronicle| [3]
Entertainment Weekly| B[4]
The Guardian| [5]
HipHopDX| [6]
Pitchfork Media| (7.6/10)[7]
PopMatters| [8]
Robert Christgau| [9]
Spin| B+[1]
Vibe| [10]

The Beautiful Struggle is the second studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on September 28, 2004, by Rawkus Records and Geffen Records. The album features guest appearances such as Common, Faith Evans, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige and John Legend.

The album featured production from Kanye West, The Neptunes, Supa Dave West, Just Blaze and Hi-Tek. 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

[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Producer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Going Hard"|

* Talib Kweli Greene
* Henri Charlemagne
* Corey Smyth

| Charlemagne| 3:50
2.| "Back Up Offa Me"|

* Greene
* Jason "Phil The Agony" Smith
* Tony Cottrell

| Hi-Tek| 3:38
3.| "Broken Glass"|

* Greene
* Chad Hugo
* Pharrell Williams

| The Neptunes| 3:11
4.| "We Know" (feat. Faith Evans)|

* Greene
* Kendra Ross
* Dave West

| Supa Dave West| 3:43
5.| "A Game"|

* Greene
* Antwan Thompson

| Amadeus| 3:36
6.| "I Try" (feat. Mary J. Blige)|

* Greene
* John Stephens
* Mary J. Blige
* Kanye West

| Kanye West| 4:25
7.| "Around My Way" (feat. John Legend)|

* Greene
* Charlemagne

| Charlemagne| 4:48
8.| "We Got the Beat" (feat. Res)|

* Greene
* Kevin Risto
* Waynne Nugent

| Midi Mafia| 3:20
9.| "Work It Out"|

* Greene
* Cottrell
* Jonathan Rotem

* Hi-Tek
* J.R.

| 4:20
10.| "Ghetto Show" (feat. Common & Anthony Hamilton)|

* Greene
* Lonnie Lynn
* D. West

| Supa Dave West| 4:47
11.| "Black Girl Pain" (feat. Jean Grae)|

* Greene
* Tsidi Ibrahim
* Risto
* Nugent
* Anthony McIntyre

* Midi Mafia
* Tone Mason

| 5:04
12.| "Never Been in Love"|

* Greene
* Justin Smith

| Just Blaze| 5:01
13.| "Beautiful Struggle"|

* Greene
* Cottrell

| Hi-Tek| 4:00

Sample Credits[11]

* "Around My Way" contains replayed elements of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police.

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]

* Mark Batson – piano (track 1), keyboards (track 10)
* Steve Baughman – mixing (tracks 2, 6, 9, 13)
* Elizabeth "Yummy" Bingham – additional vocals (track 11)
* Mary J. Blige – featured artist (track 6)
* Tom Brick – mastering
* David Brown – engineer (track 12)
* Charlemagne – producer (tracks 1, 7)
* Andrew Coleman – engineer (track 3)
* Common – featured artist (track 10)
* Dave Dar – engineer (tracks 1, 4–8, 7, 8, 10, 11), mixing (track 1), co-executive producer
* Dion – additional vocals (track 2)
* Faith Evans – featured artist (track 4), additional vocals (track 3)
* Brian Garten – engineer (track 3)
* Anthony Hamilton – featured artist (track 10)
* Hi-Tek – producer and engineer (tracks 2, 9, 13)
* Chad Hugo – producer (track 3)
* Jun Ishizeki – assistant engineer (track 3)
* Glen Jeffries – guitar (tracks 9, 13)
* Just Blaze – producer (track 12)
* Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton – mixing (tracks 5, 12)
* J.R. – producer (track 9), additional keyboards (track 13)
* Krondon – additional vocals (track 2)
* Talib Kweli – main artist, executive producer
* John Legend – featured artist (track 7)
* Alan Mason – vocal engineer for Mary J. Blige (track 6)
* Midi Mafia – producers (tracks 8, 11)
* Tiffany Mynon – additional vocals (tracks 9, 11)
* Jamia Simone Nash – additional vocals (track 11)
* Olivia Charnae Nash – additional vocals (track 11)
* Axel Niehaus – mixing (tracks 7, 11)
* Bob Power – mixing (tracks 1, 4, 8, 10)
* Res – featured artist (track 8), additional vocals (track 1)
* Justin Shturtz – assistant engineer (tracks 5, 11)
* Corey Smyth – executive producer
* Spacey T – guitar (track 8)
* Phil Tan – mixing (track 3)
* Alex Thomas – additional vocals (track 2)
* Antwan "Amadeus" Thompson – producer (track 5)
* Tone Mason – producer (track 11)
* Kanye West – producer (track 6)
* Supa Dave West – producer (tracks 4, 10)
* Pharrell Williams – producer and additional vocals (track 3)
* Dave Young – additional vocals (track 12)
* Anthony Zeller – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 4, 6–8, 10, 11), mixing assistant (track 9)

## Chart positions

[edit]

Chart (2004)  | Peak
position

|

Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[12] | 39
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[13] | 11
US Billboard 200[14] | 14
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[15] | 3

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for The Beautiful Struggle". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
2. ^ Andy Kellman (2004-09-28). "The Beautiful Struggle - Talib Kweli | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
3. ^ "Review: The Beautiful Struggle, The New Danger - Music - The Austin Chronicle". Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
4. ^ Seymour, Craig (2004-10-01). "The Beautiful Struggle". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
5. ^ Alexis Petridis. "CD: Talib Kweli, The Beautiful Struggle". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
6. ^ "Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle". HipHopDX. 2004-10-07. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
7. ^ "Talib Kweli: The Beautiful Struggle | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2004-09-29. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
8. ^ "Talib Kweli: The Beautiful Struggle". PopMatters. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
9. ^ "CG: talib kweli". Robert Christgau. 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
10. ^ "Vibe - Google Livres". October 2004. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
11. ^ a b c The Beautiful Struggle (booklet). Rawkus, Geffen. 2004.
12. ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. October 21, 2004. Archived from the original on December 10, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
13. ^ "R&B : Top 50". Jam!. October 7, 2004. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
14. ^ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
15. ^ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* The Beautiful Struggle at Metacritic

* v
* t
* e

Talib Kweli

* Discography
* Songs

Studio albums|

* Quality
* The Beautiful Struggle
* Eardrum
* Gutter Rainbows
* Prisoner of Conscious
* Gravitas
* Radio Silence

Mixtapes|

* Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD

Collaboration albums|

* Black Star
* Train of Thought
* Liberation
* Revolutions per Minute
* Habits of the Heart
* The Seven
* No Fear of Time

Singles|

* "Definition"
* "Respiration"
* "The Blast"
* "Get By"
* "Listen!!!"
* "Hot Thing"
* "Just Begun"

Featured singles|

* "One-Nine-Nine-Nine"

Other songs|

* "Finally Free"
* "Hostile Gospel"

Related articles|

* Black Star
* Reflection Eternal
* Idle Warship
* Hip Hop for Respect
* Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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