The leap from underground luminary to mainstream star often trips up even the most skilled and versatile rappers. The jazz-informed 1998 album Black Star first earned Talib Kweli praise in the alternative hip-hop world — even if his contributions were slightly overshadowed by collaborator Mos Def's. Kweli's 2000 solo debut, Reflection Eternal, removed any doubts about the MC's prowess — his melodic flow and clever, introspective rhymes establishing him as one of the East Coast's leading rappers. The full-length included the number "Move Somethin,'" which topped Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart but failed to register much with pop fans. Following several more critically acclaimed discs issued on indie labels like Rawkus and Blacksmith, Kweli clearly aimed for commercial success on last summer's Eardrum. Distributed by Warner Bros., the album features tracks produced by A-listers like Kanye West, will.i.am and Just Blaze. In case that wasn't enough to warrant widespread interest, Justin Timberlake and Norah Jones dropped by to sing a couple of hooks. On balance, Eardrum's club-friendly beats and polished production serves, rather than distracts from, Kweli's shrewd meditations on everything from women and their ways to his position as a socially conscious rapper in a hip-hop world overpopulated by iced-out gangstas. Eardrum might not be Kweli's most provocative outing, but it's a respectable stab at crossover appeal that paid off — Eardrum reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 pop survey.
Talib Kweli w/The Basiqs/Luci Fe/Trax, 7 p.m. (doors), Sun., April 27, Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, $25. —Wade Tatangelo
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2008.