Eardrum is the fourth solo album from American hip hop artist Talib Kweli. The album was his Warner Bros. Records debut with his first album on his own label, Blacksmith Records. It was engineered by Dylan "3-D" Dresdow, Joel Hamilton,Ryan Kennedy, Mike Houge and Dave Dar. Eardrum was released on August 21, 2007 on the Blacksmith Records label with distribution handled by Warner Bros. Records and received mostly favorable reviews.

Talib posted a page on his website where he describes his whole album track by track, allowing fans to listen to every song.

Eardrum debuted at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 60,000 copies in its first week, making it Kweli's highest debuting album to date. On its second week it fell to #20 with sales of 25,000 copies, selling a total of 85,500 units.

Bonus tracks on the International release of the album included "Take It Back" featuring Marsha of Floetry, produced by Karriem Riggins and "Getting My Grown Man On" featuring Little Brother, produced by Midi Mafia (also appeared on Little Brother's "and Justice for All" mixtape).

Talib Kweli Greene (October 3, 1975), better known as Talib Kweli, is an American rapper. Kweli hails from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" (طالب); his middle name in Swahili means "true". Kweli first gained recognition through Black Star, a collaboration with fellow MC Mos Def.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kweli grew up in a highly educated household in Park Slope. His mother, Brenda Greene, is an English professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York and his father an administrator at Adelphi University. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of Constitutional Law at Columbia Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse whom he had met in high school. Talib Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was also a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, before being academically dismissed. He later studied experimental theater at New York University.

Shawn Patrick Stockman (born September 26, 1972) is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men. He is also a judge on the television show The Sing-Off, alongside Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds.

Stockman recorded a solo album as a side project during the late 1990s, but the LP was never released. He has written the songs "Forever", "Hot Thing", and "Let It Go"; the latter of which was played during the Disney movie Seventeen Again.

Shawn wrote and sang the song "Visions of a Sunset" for the Mr. Holland's Opus film soundtrack. He got his singing start with the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale at the age of 8.

Most recently, Stockman started his own record label called Soul Chemistry Projects. He has also recorded a cover of Beyoncé Knowles' hit song "If I Were a Boy".

Shawn has been serving as a judge along with Ben Folds, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sara Bareilles on NBC's "The Sing Off" with host Nick Lachey. The show first premiered on December 14, 2009, the second season premiered on December 6, 2010, and the third season winner was announced on November 28, 2011.

Victoria Elizabeth Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American model and professional wrestler best known by her ring name Alicia Fox. She is signed to WWE where she performs on the SmackDown brand.

Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Crawford was a model. She signed a contract with WWE in 2006, and debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory in July. That same year, on October 20, she won the OVW Women's Championship, but lost it the following day. Her reign is not officially recognized by OVW. The following year, she moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), another WWE developmental territory, where she competed regularly until 2009.

Crawford debuted on SmackDown in June 2008, using the name 'Alicia Fox' and the gimmick of a wedding planner. In November, she moved to the ECW brand, where she managed DJ Gabriel. As part of the Supplemental Draft, she moved back to SmackDown in April 2009, before being traded to the Raw brand two months later. Throughout the rest of 2009, Fox began unsuccessfully challenging for the WWE Divas Championship. She briefly managed Zack Ryder in May 2010, and the following month she won the Divas Championship for the first time. Fox held the championship until August 15. In late 2010, Fox appeared as a 'Pro' on the third season of NXT. She returned to the SmackDown brand in April 2011, as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.

Rakim Mayers (born October 3, 1988), better known by his stage name ASAP Rocky (stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper and music video director. Born and raised in the New York City neighborhood Harlem, he is a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker.

Rocky released the mixtape LiveLoveA$AP in 2011 to critical acclaim. He plans to release his debut studio album, LongLiveA$AP, in July 2012.

Born in 1988, Mayers was named after the hip hop star Rakim, one half of the Eric B. & Rakim duo. When he was 12 years old, his father went to jail in connection with selling drugs. A year later an older brother was killed near his apartment, which inspired him to take rapping seriously. Mayers had started rapping at age 8, grew up admiring Harlem-based rap group The Diplomats, and also lists among his influences Three 6 Mafia, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, UGK, Run DMC and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. After living in a shelter with his mother, and elsewhere around Manhattan, Mayers moved to Elmwood Park, New Jersey.