This starts off fairly well with 'Back Again' and 'In This World' being particular early favourites with nice beats and Talib spitting great as he does. The poppier 'Midnight Hour' at track seven is definitely one of the worst tracks on the album and doesn't quite fit in with what the rest of the album does. And from there, while not quite getting back to the heights of the earlier mentioned tracks, there is still some good stuff to listen to. I'm generally more of a beat guy, but since giving this album a few good spins, it's more Talib, and some guests later on, who really help this album to be enjoyable in the second half, with the beats dropping off a touch in quality the longer the album goes on. While not containing anything ground-breaking, there is some really good stuff - some memorable lines, the Jay-Z sample used in 'In This World' is great, and the Michael Jackson "leave me alone" is memorable as well on 'In The Red'. Overall, it gets a commendable three and a half because there is some good stuff early and even with it dropping off and not featuring anything brilliant in the latter stages, it's still not a bad listen. Listening to this though reminded me that I must check out the prequel to this and the one or two releases I've missed from Talib's discography. Best Tracks: Back Again, Strangers, In This World, Got Work, In the Red, Ballad of the Black Gold, Just Begun