Revolutions per Minute (Reflection Eternal album)

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Taken as a whole, Revolutions Per Minute offers a specific and complicated vision of what it means to be an artist. It presents the notion that music-making is about dedication and practice, about practical business decisions as much as art, while also being a manner of “exorcising” ghosts and “testifying” to what’s going on in the world (as he puts it on “Back Again”). To sign a record deal is to enter a deal with the devil, and every musician needs to know it, Kweli notes repeatedly. [10]

— Dave Heaton

Giving it 4 out of 5 stars, Slant Magazine writer M.T. Richards described the album as "brainy, energizing stuff" and praised Kweli's rapping, stating "Sinking his no-frills flow into calm, bassy tracks, Kweli lands punchline after punchline with the kind of finesse Jay and Common could only dream of". [12] The A.V. Club 's Nathan Rabin gave the album a B rating and wrote "Hi-Tek lacks a trademark style, but his chemistry with Kweli remains potent, even when Minute doesn't hit the heights of the duo's debut". [7] Mosi Reeves of Spin gave the album 3½ out of 5 stars and viewed Hi-Tek's "jazz-inflected riffs and soulful vibes" as complementary to Kweli's "mercurial" style, stating "congenial beats balance intricately daring rhymes". [13] Alternative Press writer Casey Boland gave it four out of five stars and viewed it as an improvement for Hi-Tek's producing and Kweli's rapping, stating "he sounds at home with Hi-Tek. His cadence has never locked so tightly with the tune, his lyrical flow never so sinuous". [6] Henry Adaso of About.com noted a "musical maturation" by the duo and wrote that the album "finds Kweli masterfully marrying the physical with the philosophical atop Hi-Tek's rich palette of headphone music". [23] Pitchfork Media's Nate Patrin gave Revolutions per Minute a 7.5/10 rating and commended its "conscious yet unpretentious lyricism delivered with acrobatic dexterity over on-point, no-gimmick beats". [9]

Track listing

Revolutions per Minute
Reflection-eternal-revolutions-per-minute.jpg
Studio album by
Reflection Eternal
ReleasedMay 18, 2010
Recorded2008–2010
Electric Lady Studios
(Greenwich Village, New York)
Genre Hip hop
Length60:35
Label Blacksmith, Rawkus, Warner Bros.
Producer Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli (exec.), Sha Money XL (exec.), Corey Smyth (exec.)
Reflection Eternal chronology
Train of Thought
(2000)		Revolutions per Minute
(2010)
Talib Kweli chronology
Eardrum
(2007)		Revolutions per Minute
(2010)		 Gutter Rainbows
(2011)
No.TitleLength
1."RPM's"1:06
2."City Playgrounds"4:43
3."Back Again" (featuring Res)3:26
4."Strangers (Paranoid)" (featuring Bun B)2:51
5."In This World"3:31
6."Got Work (Fame)"4:16
7."Midnight Hour" (featuring Estelle)4:40
8."Lifting Off"5:22
9."In the Red"3:00
10."Black Gold (Intro)"0:18
11."Ballad of the Black Gold"5:34
12."Just Begun" (featuring Jay Electronica, J. Cole, and Mos Def)3:37
13."Long Hot Summer"2:22
14."Get Loose" (featuring Chester French)5:34
15."So Good"3:33
16."Ends" (featuring Bilal)3:22
17."My Life (Outro)"3:28

Personnel

Credits for Revolutions per Minute adapted from Allmusic.

Charts

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References

  1. ↑ "Back Again [Explicit]: Reflection Eternal: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  2. ↑ "Just Begun by Reflection Eternal : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  3. ↑ "In This World [Explicit]: Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli & HiTek: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  4. ↑ "Strangers [Paranoid][Feat. Bun B][Explicit]: Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli & HiTek: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  5. 1 2 Heaney, Gregory. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-05-18.
  6. 1 2 Boland, Casey. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Alternative Press . Retrieved on 2010-06-03.
  7. 1 2 Rabin, Nathan. Review: Revolutions per Minute. The A.V. Club . Retrieved on 2010-05-25.
  8. 1 2 Faraone, Chris. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Boston Phoenix . Retrieved on 2010-05-18.
  9. 1 2 Patrin, Nate. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2010-05-25.
  10. 1 2 Heaton, Dave. Review: Revolutions per Minute. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-05-26.
  11. 1 2 Juon, Steve. Review: Revolutions per Minute. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2010-06-03.
  12. 1 2 Richards, M.T. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-06-03.
  13. 1 2 Reeves, Mosi. "Review: Revolutions per Minute". Spin . Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  14. ↑ Hull, Tom (August 10, 2020). "Rhapsody Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ US. "Reflection Eternal | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  16. ↑ Kaufman, Gil. Another 'Glee' Soundtrack Tops Billboard Album Charts. MTV. Retrieved on 2010-05-31.
  17. ↑ R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of June 05, 2010. Billboard . Retrieved on 2010-05-31.
  18. ↑ Rap Albums – Week of June 05, 2010. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-31.
  19. ↑ Digital Albums – Week of June 05, 2010. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-31.
  20. ↑ Revolutions per Minute (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-06-03.
  21. ↑ Mistry, Anupa. Review: Revolutions per Minute. Exclaim! . Retrieved on 2010-05-18.
  22. ↑ Iandoli, Kathy. Review: Revolutions per Minute. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-05-18.
  23. ↑ Adaso, Henry. "Review: Revolutions per Minute". About.com . Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  24. ↑ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Talib Kweli Chart History (Digital Albums)".[ dead link ] Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
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