Reflection Eternal

Revered as one of hip-hop's most innovative and cohesive duos, Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek are back as Reflection Eternal for The RE:Union, a mixtape building momentum for March's sophomore studio release. Featuring cameos by a bevy of today's new, young things (J. Cole, Wale, Jay Electronica), the breezy, engaging mixtape also extends some new stuff, some previously unreleased stuff and a few solo joints to fans. It's pretty much all classic Reflection Eternal: lithe raps, soulful hooks and steady, fat bass. "Just Begun," featuring Jay Electronica, J. Cole and Mos Def, is ridiculously smooth, reminiscent of melodic, lyrically-driven, mid-2000 hip-hop, and the quick-paced "Revolutions Per Minute" (the expected studio album title) lets Kweli prove he's been working on his quotables. At 30 tracks, it's a slightly longer listening experience than today's mp3-guzzling audience is used to. Still, the inclusion of old favourites (Reflection Eternal debut "Fortified Live," Train of Thought banger "Move Something" and Black Star classics like "Respiration") make The RE:Union a solid nostalgic listening experience, proving it's not necessarily about appeasing new listeners as it is about satisfying the (very patient) die-hards.