i love the roots
i do
i LOVE THEM
above and beyond the irrational hometown pride that will keep me coming back over and over again and forever, i really do just honestly love their music. Things Fall Apart was the album that cracked the proverbial hip-hop nut for me, and made me realize that this music was something i could actually put on and (gasp!) listen to, instead of just, you know, getting wasted and grinding up on girls at parties. how could i forsake a band that had opened my eyes so wide? never could. so i stick with them.
that said
there is a major misconception about the roots that goes hand in hand with their biggest shortcoming. the way they transcend musical style leads everyone in the biz to understandably believe that they are courageous and experimental and cutting edge. which, they are, to an extent. yes, Phrenology was kind of a one eighty moment in their career. it was the 'whoa these guys can do pretty much whatever they want and still sound good' moment that a lot of good bands have (see: radiohead even if it took me five years to realize it...wait you have no idea what i'm talking about, anyway). but underneath those surface shifts in style that have kept fans, the industry, (and i'm willing to bet the roots themselves) guessing over the years, there has always been a set in stone, boilerplate structuring to their albums. ?uestlove himself called it the "movie experience sequencing" in a recent post on the boards at okayplayer.com. The Man himself copping to it is what made me realize it. i've never been able to give it a name before now, but every single roots album has a readily identifiable pacing to it that after 7 studio albums, and it pains me to say this, is getting a little old.
i also worry sometimes about the band's motivations. when was the last time they made an honest album? Phrenology was a conscious attempt to be something other than what everyone expected after Things Fall Apart. The Tipping Point was a conscious attempt (under pressure i think) to return to form without taking any major steps back from the cutting edge. Finally Game Theory, given the opportunity at a new label, was a conscious attempt to just "be themselves" and make the music they wanted to make. now they were successful to a degree on all three of those albums, but does that last one sound weird to anyone else? does anyone have to try to be themselves? should they have to? no. of course not. but i fear the roots did. and just like on Phrenology and Tipping Point, you can hear the effort in the music. They are trying SO HARD. its an indefinable quality, but it is definitely there, and its something that you can't find on their earlier records.
don't get me wrong. this album is very, very good. it is indescribably better than any other hip-hop album that has come out in the last two years. 'Game Theory,' 'Don't Feel Right,' 'Baby,' 'Long Time,' 'Clock With no Hands,' and 'Livin in a New World' are all absolutely stellar, essential songs. they're sharp, they're clean, they pop with a kind of immediecy that lends them serious gravitas without sacrificing any of the cool factor. the roots have always been brilliant at conveying urgency without actually sounding urgent. this album also drips with ambiance and emotion. it penetrates every aspect of it in a way that can't be truly appreciated unless it is heard for oneself. consider that my official endorsement. you'd be hard pressed to find a more 'heart on your sleeve' album anywhere these days, but ESPECIALLY not in hip-hop.
to that end i have to mention as well, that as a philly resident, it means a lot to me to hear an artist spend some serious lyrical capital on the corruption and oppressive violence in this city. it feels like a microcosmic representation of the violence and corruption in the world. its a pall that weighs on everything here, and it infects this album's sound and lyrical content so perfectly. Black Thought is pleading here with us, to understand and come together and get a grip, and it is so much more empowering than any of that "i'm from a tough town so don't fuck with me" bullshit that a lot of people try to spit. Fuck. That. People are dying, and it hurts, and Thought is real to the emotional bone about it. On that aspect alone people should check this album out.
should i end on a high note?
listen to the roots!
i do
i LOVE THEM
above and beyond the irrational hometown pride that will keep me coming back over and over again and forever, i really do just honestly love their music. Things Fall Apart was the album that cracked the proverbial hip-hop nut for me, and made me realize that this music was something i could actually put on and (gasp!) listen to, instead of just, you know, getting wasted and grinding up on girls at parties. how could i forsake a band that had opened my eyes so wide? never could. so i stick with them.
that said
there is a major misconception about the roots that goes hand in hand with their biggest shortcoming. the way they transcend musical style leads everyone in the biz to understandably believe that they are courageous and experimental and cutting edge. which, they are, to an extent. yes, Phrenology was kind of a one eighty moment in their career. it was the 'whoa these guys can do pretty much whatever they want and still sound good' moment that a lot of good bands have (see: radiohead even if it took me five years to realize it...wait you have no idea what i'm talking about, anyway). but underneath those surface shifts in style that have kept fans, the industry, (and i'm willing to bet the roots themselves) guessing over the years, there has always been a set in stone, boilerplate structuring to their albums. ?uestlove himself called it the "movie experience sequencing" in a recent post on the boards at okayplayer.com. The Man himself copping to it is what made me realize it. i've never been able to give it a name before now, but every single roots album has a readily identifiable pacing to it that after 7 studio albums, and it pains me to say this, is getting a little old.
i also worry sometimes about the band's motivations. when was the last time they made an honest album? Phrenology was a conscious attempt to be something other than what everyone expected after Things Fall Apart. The Tipping Point was a conscious attempt (under pressure i think) to return to form without taking any major steps back from the cutting edge. Finally Game Theory, given the opportunity at a new label, was a conscious attempt to just "be themselves" and make the music they wanted to make. now they were successful to a degree on all three of those albums, but does that last one sound weird to anyone else? does anyone have to try to be themselves? should they have to? no. of course not. but i fear the roots did. and just like on Phrenology and Tipping Point, you can hear the effort in the music. They are trying SO HARD. its an indefinable quality, but it is definitely there, and its something that you can't find on their earlier records.
don't get me wrong. this album is very, very good. it is indescribably better than any other hip-hop album that has come out in the last two years. 'Game Theory,' 'Don't Feel Right,' 'Baby,' 'Long Time,' 'Clock With no Hands,' and 'Livin in a New World' are all absolutely stellar, essential songs. they're sharp, they're clean, they pop with a kind of immediecy that lends them serious gravitas without sacrificing any of the cool factor. the roots have always been brilliant at conveying urgency without actually sounding urgent. this album also drips with ambiance and emotion. it penetrates every aspect of it in a way that can't be truly appreciated unless it is heard for oneself. consider that my official endorsement. you'd be hard pressed to find a more 'heart on your sleeve' album anywhere these days, but ESPECIALLY not in hip-hop.
to that end i have to mention as well, that as a philly resident, it means a lot to me to hear an artist spend some serious lyrical capital on the corruption and oppressive violence in this city. it feels like a microcosmic representation of the violence and corruption in the world. its a pall that weighs on everything here, and it infects this album's sound and lyrical content so perfectly. Black Thought is pleading here with us, to understand and come together and get a grip, and it is so much more empowering than any of that "i'm from a tough town so don't fuck with me" bullshit that a lot of people try to spit. Fuck. That. People are dying, and it hurts, and Thought is real to the emotional bone about it. On that aspect alone people should check this album out.
should i end on a high note?
listen to the roots!