Talib Kweli and Madlib‘s new project, Liberation 2, has finally dropped but instead of appearing on typical streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, it was released in a unique way.
The new album is the sequel to the duo’s 2007 project, Liberation, and available exclusively on Luminary, a subscription-based podcast network. On Monday (March 6), Madlib took to Instagram to share the new music with fans, writing, “OUT NOW!!!” in the post’s caption.
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Aside from the Black Star rapper, Madlib revealed that several other artists appear on the album, including Roy Ayers, Q-Tip, and Westside Gunn, and there’s also a posthumous feature from Mac Miller.
“Liberation 2 produced entirely by @madlib and recorded around the globe with features from @mynameisdiani @amani.aint.here @casspernyovest @bigbirdkuti @jdawildchild @qtiptheabstract @westsidegunn @rocmarci @officialmeshell @royayerssunshine @goapele @pinksiifu @jessicacaremoor @moonbyrdmusic @macmiller,” he wrote.
The pair announced to fans that the project would be released last month. In a press release, Talib revealed that he and Madlib had worked on the album for over a decade.
“This album was written, recorded and mixed over 10 years,” he said. “It’s expansive in concept but tight in its substance and approach. People today are taking stock of what is most important – family, health, wellness, love.”
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Talib continued: “The materialism and debauchery that is stereotypically associated with Hip Hop has lost some of its luster,” he continued. “Madlib and I have been consistent in our messaging. Never has there been a better time for such honest, message-driven music that pays tribute to the sounds that came before us.”
Ahead of the project’s release, the pair dropped their first single off the project. “After These Messages” featuring Talib’s son, Amani.
Talib Kweli and Madlib’s working relationship has been well documented. The iconic wordsmith teamed up with his Black Star group mate, Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), and the prolific beat wizard to perform a track titled, “Mineral Mountain,” from their 2022 album No Fear Of Time on Saturday Night Live.
Joining them was legendary Roots MC Black Thought, who dropped some bars over a psychedelic, hard-hitting backdrop.
“My history, what can I say? It ain’t perfect/ It ain’t on Wikipedia, you can’t search it/ The thing about graffiti is it ain’t cursive/ If it don’t make you feel a way it ain’t worth it,” Black Thought rapped before namedropping Common, Tesla and the late, great J Dilla.
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Any fan of either Black Star or Black Thought will know their roots run deep. Aside from their Soulquarians affiliation, the trio teamed up on the Pete Rock-produced “Flying High” remix of Mos and Kweli’s “Respiration” in 1999.
Black Thought also shared the mic with Mos Def on The Roots’ “Double Trouble,” “Rising Down” and “The Hurricane,” while trading rhymes with Talib Kweli on songs such as “Guerrilla Monsoon Rap,” “Rolling With Heat” and “I Will Not Apologize.”
