|
''Gravitas'' is the sixth solo studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on December 15, 2013, by Javotti Media. The album was released exclusively through Talib Kweli's website. The album features guest appearances from Gary Clark Jr., Abby Dobson, Big K.R.I.T., Raekwon, The Underachievers, Black Thought, Rah Digga and Mike Posner among others. With production coming from Oh No, Khrysis, Statik Selektah, Rich Kidd and J Dilla among others. ==Background== In August 2013, during an interview with ''XXL'', Talib Kweli announced that he would release his next studio album in 2014 which would contain production from Q-Tip, saying: "Q-Tip—I’m working with Q-Tip on my new album. Just being around him and seeing him work, I’ve now watched him get giddy over samples and play me beats and stuff. And it’s like, wow, is this how he made ''Midnight Marauders''?" In the same interview he also announced that his sixth studio album would be titled ''Gravitas'', saying: "The new album () called ''Gravitas'', but I’ve just started on it so there’s not that many details yet."〔 On October 5, 2013, Talib Kweli announced the album's release date in a press release, saying: "When you pre order my newest project, ''Gravitas'', available Dec 15th, you will be buying it directly from me, no middleman, and I will now have a direct relationship with you. Who needs this industry when we have each other. The technology exists for me to have this relationship with the fans, and vice versa. It is a grand experiment. Lets go for it! ''Gravitas'' is my sixth solo album. It will feature production from OhNo, Q-Tip, Lord Quest, Rich Kidd and more." He described the album, saying: "One of my favorite things about today's hip hop is the honesty. Today's most popular rappers aren't always politically correct or deep, but the best are unflinchingly honest. While my story may be documented, I have never truly told my story thru music. My true fans have heard bits and pieces thru the years, but ''Gravitas'' sums up my experience until now."〔 The album was released in MP3 form on December 15, 2013, while a physical version was released on February 18, 2014, through Fat Beats Records.〔 In a December 2013 interview with ''Complex'', Talib Kweli spoke about why he decided to name the album ''Gravitas'', saying: "''Prisoner of Conscious'' was about music more than lyrics. I feel that people can be dismissive of me as a musician when they focus so much on my lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be considered a great lyricist, but if it wasn't for my musical choices no one would hear me or care. So I tried new things musically on POC and worked with many guests. On ''Gravitas'', my focus is on telling my story lyrically. The word gravitas is used to describe someone whose words and actions have importance and weight. I felt it was time to introduce some gravitas into hip-hop." In the same interview, he also spoke about why he decided to distribute the album himself, saying: "Although I am known as a leader in the indie movement, I have been distributed by majors for most of my career, even while I was on Rawkus. The first truly indie album I did was ''Gutter Rainbows'' on Javotti/3D. ''Gravitas'' takes it up a notch. I am following the lead of Ryan Leslie who provided the www.kweliclub.com platform for me. He's a genius for it. The advantages are: I will get the fans' emails. Everyone who sells music online gets consumer emails but the actual artist, it's not fair. Now I can communicate with actual fans who actually buy. I can look at my database and see who's buying what and where, and the money will come directly to me as opposed to a third party. Honestly, I don't know if people mean it when they say they want to support artists directly. I will know after this, I've left you no excuse. Another disadvantage is: people are used to getting music where they are used to getting music. It will take a sec to get them to understand ''Gravitas'' is ONLY available at www.kweliclub.com."〔 He also spoke about why the songs with Q-Tip didn't make the album, saying: "Q-Tip is not on ''Gravitas''. We've done a couple of songs together. But I've been on tour with Macklemore Ryan Lewis and Big KRIT and I really want to get back in with Tip live-in-the-flesh to finish these songs. They weren't ready for ''Gravitas''."〔 In a December 2013, interview with HipHopDX, Talib Kweli spoke about how the album is different from other album's he's released, saying: "The first thing that they can expect from ''Grativas'' is to have a direct relationship with me. ''Gravitas'' is direct to fans. It's only available at kweliclub.com. I want your e-mail. You can expect that I'll have your e-mail and I'll be e-mailing you things. When you buy with all these different corporations, they have your e-mail (), but the artist never gets it. () ''Prisoner of Conscious'', the focus was definitely to show people, musically, you like my music because I make great music. The focus of ''Gravitas'' is definitely lyrics and me telling my story. Prisoner of Conscious was like, 'I'm making songs.' I'm like, 'Okay, I'm making this song. Let's see what this song is about. Here's a song with Miguel…' I'm proud of ''Prisoner of Conscious''. I worked on it for four years. It was the album I wanted to make. But immediately after I finished making it, I felt the need to start writing. ...This is for fans of mine who already know that I'm dope musically. They just want to hear dope lyrics. So this album is for them." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gravitas (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|