The Beautiful Struggle

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 ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Austin Chronicle	[3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B [5]
The Guardian	[6]
HipHopDX	[7]
Pitchfork Media	7.6/10 [8]
PopMatters	[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. It features guest appearances from Common, Faith Evans, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige, and John Legend.

The album was produced by Kanye West, the Neptunes, Supa Dave West, Just Blaze, and Hi-Tek. The first single, "I Try" featuring Mary J. Blige, was fairly popular as a music video, followed by the second single, "Never Been in Love".

Track listing

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

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

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

1. "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. "CG: talib kweli". Robert Christgau. 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
5. Seymour, Craig (2004-10-01). "The Beautiful Struggle". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
6. Alexis Petridis. "CD: Talib Kweli, The Beautiful Struggle". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
7. "Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle". HipHopDX. 2004-10-07. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
8. "Talib Kweli: The Beautiful Struggle | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2004-09-29. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
9. "Talib Kweli: The Beautiful Struggle". PopMatters. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
10. "Vibe - Google Livres". October 2004. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
11. 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

• The Beautiful Struggle at Metacritic