now playing: Hi-Tek - Suddenly feat. Mood
Anthony Cottrell, aka Hi-Tek, the son of Willie Cottrell, is a producer and rapper from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known as a the other half of Reflection Eternal on the side of Talib Kweli. The two started working together after they both had been featured on hiphop group Mood's album Doom. Hi-Tek produced most of the tracks on Talib Kweli and Mos Def's album, Black Star on 1998.
Probably most credits have been given to the two legendary emcees but also the strong production has been recognized. Working with Mos Def and Talib Kweli is a wonderful place to start a career. Giving out the debut release of Reflection Eternal in 2000 is a wonderful way of keep a career going. Train of Thought came out on Rawkus Records. At that time it wasn't a huge success but the sales rates were moderate and reviews mostly positive.
Hi-Tek produced many other projects of Rawkus Records, including the Soundbombing series, a three-record compilation of mostly Rawkus-based artists. His first solo album Hi-Teknology came out in 2001 and it featured appearances by Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common etc. Round and Round feat. Jonell from the album was a minor hit at that time.
Shortly after the release of Hi-Teknology, Hi-Tek left Rawkus Records and went to MCA Records instead after the Round and Round remix featuring Method Man had become an undergound hit. He began to record Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, and produced Jonell's unreleased debut album for Def Jam. Hi-Teknology 2 was released in October 2006 on Babygrande. His third installment, Hi-Teknology 3: Underground, came out in December 2007.
Download Hi-Teknology 2 The Chip / Hi-Teknology 3
Hi-Tek has been praised for versatility but, at the same time, criticized for inconsistency. Hi-Teknology 2 is a versatile collection of strong beats and good/pretty good rhymes but as a whole the album stays a little messy. There's a mixtape-like feel to it. But on the other hand, some people say it is the best out of three releases in the series.
In 2010, Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli got back together to release the album Revolutions Per Minute. In general the reviews were positive from the start and the album sold well: Revolutions Per Minute debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number 5 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 3 on its Rap Albums. It seemed like the long wait had matured the two and their co-operation. Hi-Tek's beats fit Talib Kweli's rapping and the brought the best out of each other.
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