Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek release new mixtape Reflection Eternal: the Re-Union via The Year of the Black Smith website.

Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek are back with the RE:Union mixtape, mixed by Statik Selektah.
1. Intro
2. Revolutions Per Minute
3. In This World ##
4. Hip-Hop (Unreleased)
5. Back Again ##
6. Wishing On A Black Star
7. Just Begun ft. Jay Electronica, J. Cole, & Mos Def ##
8. Come Around ft. Termanology & Royce da 5’9 (produced by Statik Selektah)
9. Internet Connection
10. Let It Go ft. Dion
11. Testify ft. Styles P
12. Time
13. The Thrill Is Gone ft. Styles P (produced by Statik Selektah)
14. Can We Go Back
The Reflection Eternal Classics:
15. Fortified Live ft. Mos Def & Mr Man
16. Chaos ft Bahamadia
17. The Express
18. Respiration ft. Common & Mos Def
19. Definition ft. Mos Def
20. RE:Defininition ft. Mos Def
21. Move Something
22. Ghetto Afterlife ft Kool G Rap
23. The Blast RMX ft. Erykah Badu
24. Good To You (produced by Kanye West)
25. Get By REMIX ft. Jay-Z, Mos Def, Kanye West, & Busta Rhymes
(produced by Kanye west)
26. Back Up Offa Me
27. Piano (Hi Tek ft. Ghostface)
28. Music is Life (Hi Tek ft. Nas)
29. Hang Ups (NEW Reflection Eternal not on album)
30. Outro

Make sure you download it here!

Reflection Eternal perform unreleased track from their upcoming sophomore LP, Revolutions Per Minute at Club 9:30 in Washington, D.C. Read more for a review of the show.

WASHINGTON—Patrons of Club 9:30 were time travelers on Monday, Aug. 31. Twenty-somethings donned in hip-hop inspired graphic T-shirts, limited-edition fitted caps and Nike dunk sneakers waited anxiously in line to enter the V Street venue at 7 p.m. that cool evening. The line was slow, but the show moved slower.

Bloggers and tweeters alike snapped photos of concert signage on the venue walls, “Due to injuries Slaughterhouse will not be performing tonight.” The show was delayed by hours, and Slaughterhouse had been removed from the set list. Perhaps rightfully so.

Their recent single “The One,” an ode to “sex and drugs and dirty money,” would make the rap super-group appear out of place alongside content-conscious duos Slum Village and headliner Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-tek).

Two hours in, legendary producer Pete Rock began the journey. Queen Latifah, “U-N-I-T-Y” (1993); Souls of Mischief, “93’ till Infinity” (1993); The Pharcyde, “Runnin” (1995); Wu-Tang Clan, “C.R.E.A.M.” (1994). Few tracks were younger than 10 years old, but the crowd members knew every word and proudly rapped along.

The pit in front of the stage was tightly packed but hardly uncomfortable. Despite the critically acclaimed headliner, Club 9:30 was nowhere near its 1,200-person capacity. It was also devoid of the inexorably thick, sweaty and often suffocating air and incessant shoving and spilled drinks—a commonplace of other Rock the Bells productions.

Freestyle rapper Supernatural wowed concert-goers while rapping about miscellaneous items they waved in the air, among them a wedding ring, sunglasses and a plastic cup. Unfortunately for repeat Rock the Bells attendees, much of that particular freestyle was recycled.

After odes to rap veterans Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes and the late producer J Dilla, Slum Village took the stage. They were a man short. Rapper Baatin died a month earlier, mid tour.

Surviving members, T-3 and Elzhi, presumably took an excursion from the show’s caravan through golden-era hip-hop and performed material from their upcoming LP, “Villa Manifesto,” to avoid Baatin verses. The duo did, however, perform a few crowd favorites, “Disco” and “Selfish,” and in tribute they softly whispered Baatin’s verse on “Tainted” as the audience sang along.

Shortly after, the native tongues lyricist Talib Kweli hit the stage with Reflection Eternal cohort, DJ Hi-tek. Kweli delivered a lively set, a mix of Reflection Eternal, BlackStar and solo material.

A concert-goer joked that Kweli appeared to be out of breath, his lyrics too complex to be jumping around and staying on tempo. Lucky for the Reflection Eternal emcee, audience members filled in the gaps of every gasp with chants and crazed fanaticism, unfazed.

The evening’s ’90s rap flashback came to a close as Kweli performed some unreleased material from Reflection Eternal’s upcoming album, “Revolutions Per Minute,” between bursts of “Move Somethin,” “Eternalists” and “The Blast.”

For musicians who cut their teeth on soul samples and boom bap, they did not disappoint. The young crowd was moved and after the encore, reluctant to file out into the small hours, still rooting for Kweli because he brought back clever rapping.

–Kendra Desrosiers

Lauren McEwen reviews the D.C. installment of Rock The Bells Present: Reflection Eternal at Club 9:30.

Disappointed fans were greeted with signs that read, “Slaughterhouse will not perform tonight due to injuries,” upon arriving to the 9:30 Club for the Washington, DC installment of the Rock the Bells tour, last night. Although this news was met with some frustrated hisses, within five minutes of the actual show, it was clear that the other acts were more than capable of giving the audience their money’s worth.

The first performer up was legendary DJ, Pete Rock. He entertained the crowd throughout all of the show’s transitions, by serving u p old school hits that almost every person in the room seemed to know, line for line.  From Pharcyde’s “Runnin’” and “Passin’ Me By” to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Applebum” and Wu Tang Klan’s “C.R.E.A.M.,” Pete Rock did a virtual roll call of 90’s hip hop favorites, keeping the audience calm during the rough patches of the show by demonstrating his skills with the turntables.

Next to take the stage was improvisational freestyle artist, Supernatural. For anyone who had never witnessed a well-executed freestyle in person, he delivered it—creating a poem that incorporated three words from the crowd, rapping about random items that audience members pulled from their pockets and spinning around and becoming a “different MC” by doing impressions of hip-hop greats from the past.

Once Supernatural was done wowing the crowd, Slum Village took the stage. After tragically losing group member Baatin, the remaining members, T3 and Elzhi, performed a lot of new material off of their upcoming album, “Villa Manifesto”, seeming to want to avoid the pain of performing songs in that had included their fallen friend, as much as possible. When they did perform some of their older music, they did it well. They led the audience through the high-energy “Raise It Up”, the smoother sound of “Disco” and their more mainstream hits “Tainted” and “Selfish” with energy and enthusiasm to spare. During their performance of “Tainted” they respectfully turned down the music and whispered Baatin’s verse together, a sweet gesture that the audience appreciated.

Talib Kweli was last to perform, welcomed to the stage by excited fans chanting his name. He came onstage filled with excitement, dapping up the crowd as he sailed into his set, taking the audience through many of their Kweli favorites, including “Eternalists,” “Hostile Gospel Part 1 (Deliver Us),” and “Memory’s Lane”. A born solo artist, Kweli commanded the stage, keeping the audience’s collective heads bobbing throughout every number.

Real hip-hop seemed to be the theme for the show, and true lovers of the music almost gravitated to 9:30 Club. If they were in search of lyrically-driven songs and good production, they were not disappointed in the least.

Check out some video footage one of our editor’s caught in the crowd at Rock the Bells in New York. We have video from every performance on the main stage!

Havoc of Mobb Deep Performs at Rock the Bells

Talib Kweli and Common Perform “Respiration”

RZA Introduces ODB’s Son in Dirty Tribute

We have more videos from Rock the Bells, check them out on our youtube channel.