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Train of Thought
Studio album by Reflection Eternal
Released	October 17, 2000
Recorded	1999–2000
Studio	Electric Lady Studios in New York City
Genre	Hip hop, neo soul
Length	65:53
Label	Rawkus
Producer	Hi-Tek, Weldon Irvine, Talib Kweli
Reflection Eternal chronology
Train of Thought (2000) Revolutions per Minute (2010)
Talib Kweli chronology
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998) Train of Thought (2000) Quality (2002)
Hi-Tek chronology
Train of Thought (2000) Hi-Teknology (2001)
Singles from Train of Thought
"Move Somethin'" Released: July 18, 2000 "The Blast" Released: July 16, 2001 "Down for the Count" Released: 2001 (UK only)

Train of Thought is the debut album of American hip hop duo Reflection Eternal, released October 17, 2000, on Rawkus Records. Collaborating as a duo, rapper Talib Kweli and DJ and hip hop producer Hi-Tek recorded the album during 1999 to 2000, following their individual musical work that gained notice in New York's underground scene during the late 1990s. Kweli had previously worked with rapper Mos Def as the duo Black Star, and Hi-Tek had served as producer on the duo's debut album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Sun-Times
Entertainment Weekly	B−
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	7.9/10
Rolling Stone
The Source
USA Today

Train of Thought was well received by music critics. Chicago Sun-Times writer Kyla Kyles said, "With a flurry of metaphors and below-the-basement underground beats, this train is on the right track. This disc proves that Kweli is a deep-thinking, gifted MC, and Hi Tek is an emerging wax master." AllMusic's Matt Conaway compared Reflection Eternal's music to the work of the Native Tongues collective, while writing that the album "houses enough merit to establish Talib as one of this generation's most poetic MCs". PopMatters writer Dave Heaton described Talib Kweli as "a hyper-articulate MC with a revolutionary's mind and a sensitive poet's heart, but he's also a world-class battle MC, able to rip other MCs' rhymes apart in a quick second". Kathryn Farr of Rolling Stone called Train of Thought "the rare socially aware hip-hop record that can get fists pumping in a rowdy nightclub".

Pitchfork critic Sam Eccleston wrote of Kweli's boastful lyrics, "Kweli uses the rhythm as a foundation, building rambling, baroque rhyme structures on top of them, exhibiting his cock-eyed 'skills'. This kind of braggadocio doesn't weaken the effort in the same way his moralizing self-canonization does, if only because he can often back those claims up". Noah Callahan-Bever of Vibe shared a similar sentiment, writing "Reflection Eternal's great weakness is Kweli's excessive preaching about the state of hip hop, but at least he cares". In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Jon Caramanica called it "thick with fierce street raps ('Down for the Count' and 'Ghetto Afterlife'), maudlin soul ('Love Language'), and the type of insightful versifying Kweli has made his stock-in-trade ('Memories Live' and 'This Means You')".

Track listing

Sample credits

Sample information for Train of Thought.

Personnel

Album singles

Chart history

Album

Singles

Notes

1. ^ Conaway, Matt. "Train of Thought – Reflection Eternal / Talib Kweli / Hi-Tek". AllMusic. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
2. ^ Callahan-Bever, Noah (December 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal". Vibe. Vol. 8, no. 10. p. 206. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
3. Benaquist, Steven. Review: Train of Thought. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2009-12-08.
4. Conaway, Matt. Review: Hi-Teknology. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-12-08.
5. ^ Kyles, Kyra (December 31, 2000). "Blockbusters among the beats". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 13. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
6. Sullivan, James (October 20, 2000). "Reflection Eternal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
7. Kabuubi, Maxine (October 13, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal (Rawkus)". The Guardian.
8. Baker, Soren (October 15, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek 'Reflection Eternal' Rawkus/Priority". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
9. Edwards, Sally. "'Reflection Eternal'". NME. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
10. ^ Eccleston, Sam (October 17, 2000). "Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
11. ^ Farr, Kathryn (October 26, 2000). "Talib Kweli: Reflection Eternal". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 20, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
12. Wong, Celine (December 2000). "Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal". The Source. No. 135. pp. 254–256.
13. Jones, Steve (October 17, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal". USA Today. ProQuest 408841160. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
14. Heaton, Dave (September 18, 2000). "Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek: Reflection Eternal". PopMatters. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
15. Caramanica, Jon (2004). "Talib Kweli". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 472–473. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

References

• Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

External links

• Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought at Discogs
• Album Review at RapReviews

• 2000 debut albums
• Talib Kweli albums
• Hi-Tek albums
• Rawkus Records albums
• Albums produced by Hi-Tek
• Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios