Intellectual lyricists were a rarity in hip-hop for a long while. MCs didn't want to be seen as intelligent and well spoken. Most were content with kicking some hardcore, bullshit lines, trying to intimidate imaginary adversaries. For the most part, there are still plenty of these "MCs" to listen to. Then you have those who feign brainpower with a large vocabulary of words they don't even understand. Then you have a talent like Talib Kweli. Just listening to this poet spit, you feel his words. He has an understanding of writing and wordplay that amazed me the first time I heard him on "Once In a Lifetime" and put me in deep thought on the entire BlackStar album.

However, Reflection Eternal seems as if it treads on toothpick legs. Kweli proceeds as if he is unsure of whether to go the commercial route or stay true to his poetic roots. And so goes the album, teetering between the two entities. It is understandable that artists these days feel pressure for a single that will draw in some sales. The fact remains that it can be done without completely flip-flopping to a bogus style. Mos did it with "Ms. Fat Booty," Common with "Sixth Sense," and Dilated with "The Platform." All solid joints that grabbed the spotlight for a bit and got the artists some acclaim.

On "Move Somethin," Kweli tries to toss out a mainstream head nodder in the fashion of Pharoah Monche's "Simon Says" with little success. The joint is way too generic and pop-py and doesn't fit Kweli's intellectual flow and cerebral style. He continues to falter on tracks like "Down for The Count" with Xzibit and Rah Digga, and "Ghetto Afterlife" with Kool G Rap. These tracks are completely transparent as filler tracks to grab attention at Sam Goody and other pop music emporiums. Thankfully, he keeps these skippable tracks to a minimum. For the most part he drives a verbal sword into your brain with joints like "Too Late," "Memories Live," "Africa Dream," and "Love Language."

"And see through the overspecialized, underpressurized, no lives, texturized mcs who got the masters mesmerized with empty rhetoric, they better quit, niggas so hollow they echo like sentiments. Nowadays rap artists comin half-hearted, commercial like pop or underground like black markets. Where were you the day hip-hop died. Is it too early to mourn? Is it to late to rise?" he flips on "Too Late," an eerily produced Hi-Tek piece. The sound gives you the somber feeling of a funeral with a choral humming over a bassline. Overall, Hi-Tek's production, as usual, is on point. At times it seems a bit lazy and overdone, but fortunately this only occurs on the less appealing, commercial tracks.

Talib Kweli's first solo attempt is definitely a worthwhile listen. He proves he has the lyrical fortitude to carry an entire album well. But as he says on "Soul Rebel,": "I laced the flow on purpose to even up the ratio of hip-hop to that shit they drop on the radio." Only time will tell if Kweli's instincts or need for mass appeal will dominate his career.