Let’s face it: the average American’s attention span for any hard news story pales in comparison to the steady stream of rapid fire stories about celebrity breakups, political he said-she saids or tweeted updates on where LeBron James last farted. So in some respects it’s impressive that the Gulf oil spill has captured the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere. No doubt some of this has to do with the chance to hurl some righteous (and deserved) indignation at BP and the government for their bungling of the spill and near criminal overlook of safety regulations in the rig’s construction.

Yet still, the spill it starting to fade from our collective consciousness at least if our behavior on Twitter, Google, YouTube etc. is to be believed. In all honesty, I can’t blame us…the situation is seemingly helpless, there is no good news, and the feeling is settling in that’s it’s going to be a long, hard road back to recovery, if we ever make it.

In this context comes the aptly-timed video for Reflection Eternal’s “Ballad of the Black Gold.” The subject of Kweli’s tale isn’t the Gulf but another area, Africa, where the environmental and human damage caused by battles over oil is sadly far greater than tar balls washed upon the shores. As to be expected, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek pull no punches in their rhymes, beats, or depiction of the forces and evils at play.

Great artists of exposing the ills around us and making sure we don’t forget. No doubt these two belong in that category.