The Roots | ||
| Allmusic Biography : One of the most prolific rap groups, the Roots were also among the most progressive acts in contemporary music, from their 1993 debut through their conceptual 2010s releases. Despite the seemingly archaic practice of functioning as a rap band with several instrumentalists -- from 2007 onward, their lineup even featured a sousaphonist -- they were ceaselessly creative, whether with their own material, or through their varied assortment of collaborations. They went platinum and gold with successive studio releases and won a handful of Grammy awards. After they gained a nightly nationwide audience through a close partnership with television host Jimmy Fallon, they continued to challenge listeners with works free of genre restrictions. The Roots focus on live music began back in 1987, when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) became friends at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. Playing around school, on the sidewalk, and later at talent shows (with ?uestloves drum kit backing Black Thoughts rhymes), the pair began to earn money and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leon Hubbard) and rapper Malik B. Moving from the street to local clubs, the Roots became a highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York. When they were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a concert in Germany, the Roots recorded an album to sell at shows; the result, Organix, was released in May 1993 on Remedy Records. With a music industry buzz surrounding their activities, the Roots entertained offers from several labels before signing with DGC that same year. The Roots first major-label album, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in January 1995. Forsaking usual hip-hop protocol, the album was produced without any samples or previously recorded material. It peaked just outside the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 and made more tracks in alternative circles, partly due to the Roots playing the second stage at Lollapalooza that summer. The band also journeyed to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Two of the guests on the album who had toured around with the band, human beatbox Rahzel the Godfather of Noyze -- previously a performer with Grandmaster Flash and LL Cool J -- and Scott Storch (later replaced by Kamal Gray), became permanent members of the group. Early in 1996, the Roots released "Clones," the trailer single for their second album. It hit the rap Top Five, and created a good buzz. That September, Illadelph Halflife appeared and made number 21 on the Billboard 200. Much like its predecessor, though, the Roots second LP was a difficult listen. It made several very small concessions to mainstream rap -- the bandmembers sampled material that they had recorded earlier at jam sessions -- but failed to make a hit of their unique sound. Their third album, February 1999s Things Fall Apart, was easily their biggest critical and commercial success. Released on MCA, It went platinum, and "You Got Me" -- a collaboration with Erykah Badu -- peaked within the Top 40 and subsequently won a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The long-awaited Phrenology was released in November 2002 amid rumors of the Roots losing interest in their label arrangements with MCA. In 2004, the band remedied the situation by creating the Okayplayer company. Named after their website, Okayplayer included a record label and a production/promotion company. The same year, the band held a series of jam sessions to give their next album a looser feel. The results were edited down to ten tracks and released as The Tipping Point, supported by Geffen, in July of 2004. A 2004 concert from Manhattans Webster Hall with special guests like Mobb Deep, Young Gunz, and Jean Grae was released in February 2005 as The Roots Present in both CD and DVD formats. Two volumes of the rarities-collecting Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding the Roots appeared at the end of the year. A subsequent deal with Def Jam fostered a series of riveting, often grim sets, beginning with Game Theory (August 2006) and Rising Down (April 2008). In 2009, the group expanded its reach as the exceptionally versatile house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new gig didnt slow their recording schedule; in 2010 alone, they released the sharp How I Got Over (June), as well as Wake Up! (September), where they backed John Legend on covers of socially relevant soul classics like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes "Wake Up Everybody" and Donny Hathaways "Little Ghetto Boy." It earned Grammy awards for Best R&B; Album and Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance. As they remained with Fallon, the Roots worked with Miami soul legend Betty Wright on November 2011s Betty Wright: The Movie, and followed it the next month with their 13th studio album, Undun, an ambitious concept album whose main character dies in the first track and then follows his life backward. Work on the groups next studio album was postponed as an unexpected duet album with Elvis Costello took priority for the group in 2013. Originally planned as a reinterpretation of Costellos songbook, the album Wise Up Ghost turned into a full-fledged collaboration and was greeted by positive reviews upon its September 2013 release on Blue Note. Within six months, the band joined Jimmy Fallon in his new late-night slot, the high-profile Tonight Show program. Another concept album, the brief but deep ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, was released in May 2014. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 22 Title: Organix Released: 1993 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:02:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Roots Is Comin’ (01:17) 2 Pass the Popcorn (05:32) 3 The Anti‐Circle (03:48) 4 Writer’s Block (01:45) 5 Good Music (prelude) (01:00) 6 Good Music (04:32) 7 Grits (06:36) 8 Leonard I–V (04:06) 9 I’m Out Deah (04:11) 10 Essawhamah? (live at Soulshack) (04:21) 11 There’s a RIOT Goin’ On (00:13) 12 Popcorn Revisited (04:06) 13 Peace (01:16) 14 Common Dust (05:04) 15 The Session (Longest Posse Cut in History 12:43) (12:45) 16 Syreeta’s Having My Baby (00:42) 17 Carryin’ On (01:26) |
| Organix : Allmusic album Review : The Roots low-profile debut set out many of the themes they would employ over the course of their successful career. An intro, "The Roots Is Comin," is barely over a minute long, yet long enough to exemplify the bands funky bassline (here played by Leonard Hubbard), their dreamy and emotional organ chords (thanks to Scott Storch), and their ferociously swift yet clear rhymes from the groups focal MC Black Thought. The song that follows, "Pass the Popcorn" would have been called a "posse cut" in 1993. Everyone couldve used a little more practice before stepping up to the mic on this song, but the spirit of the song are not lost in the amateurishness. The creative venture "Writers Block" is an example of just the opposite, as Black Thought flows with spoken word, comically and creatively expressing the experience of a day in the life of a Philadelphian using mass transit. The instrumentation is appropriately frantic and punctuated by [cymbal] crashes (like any mass transit system). Fans of Do You Want More, the Roots album released immediately following Organix, will recognize the music of "Im Out Deah," "Leonard I-V," and "Essawhamah?" Another track to note is "The Session (Longest Posse Cut in History)," -- no false claim at 12 minutes and 43 seconds. This album should be a part of any Roots fans collection -- not so much because it is an example of their artistry at its best, but because it allows you to see where they came from and how fruitful of a journey its been. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 22 Title: The Roots From the Ground Up Released: 1994 Tracks: 6 Duration: 32:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 It’s Comin’ (06:27) 2 Distortion to Static (04:18) 3 Mellow My Man (04:52) 4 Dat Scat (05:14) 5 Worldwide (London Groove) (08:13) 6 Do You Want More?! (03:30) |
 | Album: 3 of 22 Title: Do You Want More?!!!??! Released: 1994-10-24 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:13:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Intro / There’s Something Goin’ On (01:18) 2 Proceed (04:35) 3 Distortion to Static (04:18) 4 Mellow My Man (04:41) 5 I Remain Calm (04:08) 6 Datskat (03:40) 7 Lazy Afternoon (05:06) 8 ? vs. Rahzel (03:18) 9 Do You Want More?!!!??! (03:21) 10 What Goes On, Part 7 (05:32) 11 Essaywhuman?!!!??! (04:59) 12 Swept Away (03:50) 13 You Ain’t Fly (04:42) 14 Silent Treatment (06:52) 15 The Lesson, Part 1 (05:12) 16 The Unlocking (08:11) |
| Do You Want More?!!!??! : Allmusic album Review : Because the Roots were pioneering a new style during the early 90s, the band was forced to draw its own blueprints for its major-label debut album. Its not surprising then, that Do You Want More?!!!??! sounds more like a document of old-school hip-hop than contemporary rap. The album is based on loose grooves and laid-back improvisation, and where most hip-hoppers use samples to draw songs together and provide a chorus, the Roots just keep on jamming. The problem is that the Roots jams begin to take the place of true songs, leaving most tracks with only that groove to speak for them. The notable exceptions -- "Mellow My Man" and "Datskat," among others -- use different strategies to command attention: the sounds of a human beatbox , the great keyboard work of Scott Storch, and contributions from several jazz players (trombonist Joshua Roseman, saxophonist Steve Coleman and vocalist Cassandra Wilson). By the close of the album, those tracks are what the listener remembers, not the lightweight grooves. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 22 Title: Illadelph Halflife Released: 1996-09-24 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:14:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Intro (00:34) 2 Respond/React (05:07) 3 Section (04:08) 4 Panic!!!!!!! (01:24) 5 It Just Don’t Stop (04:33) 6 Episodes (05:56) 7 Push Up Ya Lighter (04:36) 8 What They Do (05:57) 9 ? Vs. Scratch (01:47) 10 Concerto of the Desperado (03:38) 11 Clones (05:03) 12 UNIverse at War (04:55) 13 No Alibi (05:08) 14 Dave vs. US (00:50) 15 No Great Pretender (04:25) 16 The Hypnotic (05:18) 17 Ital (The Universal Side) (04:53) 18 One Shine (05:40) 19 Outro (00:15) |
| Illadelph Halflife : Allmusic album Review : For the Roots second major-label album, the band apparently recognized the weaknesses of the debut, since there are several songs which provide more structure than previous jam-session efforts -- two even became R&B radio hits. But for all its successes, Illadelph Halflife mostly repeats the long-winded jams and loose improvisatory feel that characterized Do You Want More?!!!??!. And while these songs may sound great live (a field where the Roots excel over any other rap act), in a living-room setting listeners need hooks on which to focus. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 22 Title: Things Fall Apart Released: 1999-02-23 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:10:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Act Won (Things Fall Apart) (00:54) 2 Table of Contents, Parts 1 & 2 (03:37) 3 The Next Movement (04:10) 4 Step Into the Realm (02:49) 5 The Spark (03:53) 6 Dynamite! (04:46) 7 Without a Doubt (04:15) 8 Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New (04:34) 9 Double Trouble (05:50) 10 Act Too (The Love of My Life) (04:55) 11 100% Dundee (03:53) 12 Diedre vs. Dice (00:47) 13 Adrenaline! (04:28) 14 3rd Acts: ? vs. Scratch 2… Electric Boogaloo (00:51) 15 You Got Me (04:19) 16 Don’t See Us (04:30) 17 The Return to Innocence Lost (11:55) 18 Act Fore… The End? (00:05) |
| Things Fall Apart : Allmusic album Review : One of the cornerstone albums of alternative raps second wave, Things Fall Apart was the point where the Roots tremendous potential finally coalesced into a structured album that maintained its focus from top to bottom. If the group sacrifices a little of the unpredictability of its jam sessions, the resulting consistency more than makes up for it, since the record flows from track to track so effortlessly. Taking its title from the Chinua Achebe novel credited with revitalizing African fiction, Things Fall Apart announces its ambition right upfront, and reinforces it in the opening sound collage. Dialogue sampled from Spike Lees Mo Better Blues implies a comparison to abstract modern jazz that lost its audience, and theres another quote about hip-hop records being treated as disposable, that they arent maximized as product or as art. Thats the framework in which the album operates, and while theres a definite unity counteracting the second observation, the artistic ambition actually helped gain the Roots a whole new audience ("coffeehouse chicks and white dudes," as Common puts it in the liner notes). The backing tracks are jazzy and reflective, filled with subtly unpredictable instrumental lines, and the band also shows a strong affinity for the neo-soul movement, which they actually had a hand in kick-starting via their supporting work on Erykah Badus Baduizm. Badu returns the favor by guesting on the albums breakthrough single, "You Got Me," an involved love story that also features a rap from Eve, co-writing from Jill Scott, and an unexpected drumnbass breakbeat in the outro. Other notables include Mos Def on the playful old-school rhymefest "Double Trouble," Slum Village superproducer Jay Dee on "Dynamite!," and Philly native DJ Jazzy Jeff on "The Next Movement." But the real stars are Black Thought and Malik B, who drop such consistently nimble rhymes throughout the record that picking highlights is extremely difficult. Along with works by Lauryn Hill, Common, and Black Star, Things Fall Apart is essential listening for anyone interested in the new breed of mainstream conscious rap. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 22 Title: The Legendary Released: 1999-07-20 Tracks: 5 Duration: 15:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Intro / Jusufckwithis (02:13) 2 Table of Contents, Part 3 (03:05) 3 The Ultimate (04:04) 4 The Battlestar ?uestacula, Part 3: The Search for Scratch (02:12) 5 The Next Movement (03:52) |
 | Album: 7 of 22 Title: The Roots Come Alive Released: 1999-11-02 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:13:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Live at the T-Connection (00:47) 2 The Next Movement (03:49) 3 Step Into the Realm (03:26) 4 Proceed (02:44) 5 Mellow My Man (Jusufckwithis) (05:02) 6 Love of My Life (03:43) 7 The Ultimate (03:57) 8 Don’t See Us (05:21) 9 100% Dundee (04:30) 10 Adrenaline! (06:10) 11 Essaywhuman (05:15) 12 Silent Treatment (07:19) 13 The Notic (04:28) 14 You Got Me (17:14) 15 Encore (00:06) |
| The Roots Come Alive : Allmusic album Review : Releasing an album recorded live in concert makes more sense for the Roots than any other hip-hop artist, considering theyve always concentrated on live prowess over their skills on the mic or in the production booth. The standard guitar/drums/bass/keyboards lineup of most rock bands is a reality for this group, and after years of requests from rabid fans, the Roots acquiesced with a document of their live experience, titled The Roots Come Alive. Recorded at two venues in New York and one in Paris, the album distills exactly what the Roots bring to the hip-hop world -- a live experience built on call-and-response vocals that bring the show to the audience like few other artists. The sound is fantastic, especially on early keyboard-driven tracks like "Proceed," "Essaywhuman?!???!!!," and "Mellow My Man." Though the raps themselves often suffer from the live setting, the rhythms are crisper than in the studio, and the bass-driven grooves are much beefier. The Roots resident turntablist, Scratch, takes a large role as well, as does human beatbox Rahzel the Godfather of Noyze (though the latter only appears on about half of the album). This is a live album that not only satisfies fans, but offers neophytes more entertainment than any of the Roots studio efforts. Its difficult to make any live album a first pick, but Come Alive displays the group doing exactly what it does best. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 22 Title: Phrenology Released: 2002-11-26 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:10:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Phrentrow (00:18) 2 Rock You (03:12) 3 !!!!!!! (00:24) 4 Sacrifice (04:44) 5 Rolling With Heat (03:42) 6 WAOK (AY) Rollcall (01:00) 7 Thought @ Work (04:58) 8 The Seed (2.0) (04:27) 9 Break You Off (07:27) 10 Water (10:24) 11 Quills (04:21) 12 Pussy Galore (04:29) 13 Complexity (04:47) 14 Something in the Way of Things (in Town) (07:16) 15 [silence] (00:20) 16 [silence] (00:20) 17 Rhymes and Ammo / Thirsty! (07:59) 18 [silence] (00:07) |
| Phrenology : Allmusic album Review : The easy-flowing Things Fall Apart made the Roots one of the most popular artists of alternative raps second wave. Anticipated nearly as much as it was delayed, the proper studio follow-up, Phrenology, finally appeared in late 2002, after much perfectionist tinkering by the band -- so much that the liner notes include recording dates (covering a span of two years) and, sometimes, histories for the individual tracks. Coffeehouse music programmers beware: Phrenology is not Things Fall Apart redux; its a challenging, hugely ambitious opus thats by turns brilliant and bewildering, as it strains to push the very sound of hip-hop into the future. Despite a few gentler tracks (like the Nelly Furtado and Jill Scott guest spots), Phrenology is the hardest-hitting Roots album to date, partly because its their most successful attempt to re-create their concert punch in the studio. ?uestloves drums positively boom out of the speakers on the Talib Kweli duet "Rolling With Heat"; the fantastic, lean guitar groover "The Seed (2.0)" (with neo-soul auteur Cody ChesnuTT); and the opening section of "Water." The ten-minute "Water" is the albums centerpiece, a powerful look at former Roots MC Malik B.s drug problems that morphs into a downright avant-garde sound collage. Similarly, lead single "Break You Off," a neo-soul duet with Musiq, winds up in a melange of drumnbass programming and live strings. If moves like those, or the speed-blur Bad Brains punk of "!!!!!!!," or the drumnbass backdrop of poet Amiri Barakas "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" can seem self-consciously eclectic, its also true that Phrenology is one of those albums where the indulgences and far-out experiments make it that much more fascinating, whether they work or not. Plus, slamming grooves like "Rock You," "Thought @ Work," and the aforementioned "The Seed (2.0)" keep things exciting and vital. If this really is the future of hip-hop, then the sky is the limit. [The two hidden bonus tracks are "Rhymes and Ammo," the Talib Kweli collaboration that appeared on Soundbombing, Vol. 3, and "Something to See," another techno-inflected jam.] | ||
 | Album: 9 of 22 Title: The Tipping Point Released: 2004-07-12 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:04:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Star (06:13) 2 I Don’t Care (04:21) 3 Don’t Say Nuthin’ (03:55) 4 Guns Are Drawn (04:52) 5 Stay Cool (03:30) 6 Web (03:28) 7 Boom! (03:18) 1 Somebody’s Gotta Do It (04:05) 2 Duck Down! (03:54) 3 Why (What’s Goin On?) (04:15) 4 In Love With the Mic (03:47) 5 Melting Pot (10:31) 6 Din Da Da (07:56) |
| The Tipping Point : Allmusic album Review : The delivery of any new Roots album is rarely talked or written about without the words "highly" and "anticipated," and The Tipping Point is no exception. Besides the usual expectation for the bands superior lyrical skills and attention to detail, theres the previously announced concept that The Tipping Point would be recorded through free-spirited jams that would later be edited down. Sounds like a dont-care-about-the-final-package, music-for-musics-sake release, but the album is a well-constructed ride from start to finish thats perfect for a headphones-on, lights-out evening and a gift to fans who found 2002s Phrenology a bit mannered and forced. To paraphrase the albums "Pointro," the tracks here are mostly warm and organic "life music" that "thrusts its branches from the muck of wackness" without any overly calculated "hypnotic donkey rhythms." The ghost of Sly & the Family Stone is summoned for the opening "Star," an exuberant soul rocker that creeps along with a Timbaland-style beat, only its live. On the other hand, theres the perfect for popping, locking, and robot-dancing "Dont Say Nuthin" with its solid electro and Black Thoughts quirky mumbled verse. The shifting from the sticky, stately reggae of "Guns Are Drawn" to the Cohiba-puffing swagger of "Stay Cool" is just one example of how the album overcomes its noncommitment to any particular groove by giving the listener nothing but fully formed, inspired tracks. The bands renewed love of head-bobbing jams also helps keep it together although the albums long stretches of rap-less jamming might alienate those just here for the message. For them theres the lyric-filled "Boom!," which may not be enough. Take off your academic backpack for a change and bask in an album thats comfortably loose and ends with an over-the-top, celebratory cover of George Kranzs "Din Daa Daa" thats unnecessary but extra fun. The Tipping Point is too modest to be the "idea that spreads like a virus" thats explored in the Malcolm Gladwell book the collection cops it title from. What the album lacks in ambition and social commentary, it makes up for with deep soul. That should be enough to make whatever this group does next "highly anticipated." | ||
 | Album: 10 of 22 Title: Do This Well Released: 2004-12 Tracks: 45 Duration: 3:22:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Proceed II (05:49) 2 Worldwide (London Groove) (08:13) 3 Silent Treatment (Black Thought’s 87 You & Yours mix) (04:18) 4 You Got Me (Me Tienes remix) (04:22) 5 It’s All About You (Not About Me) (04:11) 6 Distortion to Static (At Ease mix) (04:25) 7 Take It There (remix) (03:28) 8 Rafiki (04:04) 9 Silent Treatment (Da Beatminerz mix) (04:36) 10 Listen to This (04:45) 11 What You Want (04:15) 12 Proceed III (04:17) 13 The Good, the Bad & The Desolate (03:59) 14 Distortion to Static (Freestyle mix) (04:42) 15 Break You Off (original version) (03:33) 1 It’s Comin’ (06:27) 2 Distortion to Static (Ques Jim mix) (03:29) 3 Proceed (live at the Supper club) (09:52) 4 New Year’s at Jay Dee’s (02:49) 5 What They Do (live on Jenny McCarty) (05:02) 6 Silent Treatment (Street mix) (06:59) 7 Da Jawn (05:19) 8 Distortion to Static (Black Thought mix) (04:16) 9 Burnin’ & Lootin’ (04:39) 10 Proceed II (Butcher mix) (04:02) 11 Still Out There (03:44) 12 You Got Me (live on David Letterman) (03:44) 13 Sprite Commercial (00:32) 14 Proceed IV (AJ Shine’s w/o a Pause mix) (03:43) 15 The Lesson, Part 2 (instrumental) (05:13) 1 The Show (06:24) 2 Rafiki (Hard mix) (03:38) 3 The ’Notic (05:20) 4 Distortion to Static (At Ease Microphone Check mix) (04:24) 5 Silent Treatment (Kelo’s mix) (04:04) 6 Proceed II (live on John Stewart) (02:05) 7 Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa (03:59) 8 Listen to This (The Roots remix) (04:07) 9 Adrenaline (live at Woodstock ’99) (04:14) 10 Distortion to Static (Bob Power Bass mix) (04:25) 11 Silent Treatment (Questions mix) (04:54) 12 Y’all Know Who (03:39) 13 Proceed V (Da Beatminerz remix) (04:33) 14 You Got Me (original version) (04:17) 15 The Last Track (03:30) |
 | Album: 11 of 22 Title: Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding The Roots, Volume 1 Released: 2005-11-15 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:18:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 No Hometro / Proceed 2 (05:49) 2 Distortion to Static (Black Thought mix) (01:58) 3 What They Do (05:14) 4 The Next Movement (04:10) 5 Good Music (04:08) 6 The Lesson (05:04) 7 Star (05:52) 8 The Hypnotic (04:52) 9 Silent Treatment (06:48) 10 You Got Me (04:56) 11 Clones (04:54) 12 What You Want (04:47) 13 Act Too (Love of My Life) (04:54) 14 Do You Want More?!!!??! (04:44) 15 Its Comin (live at the Trocadero, Illadelph December 1993) (04:19) 16 Double Trouble (06:23) |
 | Album: 12 of 22 Title: Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding The Roots, Volume 2 Released: 2005-11-15 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:18:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Sacrifice (live on BBC Radio Ones Worldwide Show With Giles Peterson) (06:14) 2 No Alibi (05:26) 3 Essaywhuman?!!!!! (Organix version) (04:19) 4 Break You Off (dub/sound check at Bogarts Cincinnati, Ohio, 2003) (05:27) 5 Quicksand Millennium (04:08) 6 Pass the Popcorn (Revisited) (04:03) 7 Dont Say Nuthin (remix) (03:35) 8 Adrenaline (05:17) 9 The Lesson, Part 3 (03:34) 10 Yall Know Who (03:59) 11 Thought@work (05:21) 12 Boom! (02:58) 13 The Seed / Melting Pot / Web (live on BBC Radio Ones Worldwide Show With Giles Peterson) (16:02) 14 Din Da Da (08:29) |
 | Album: 13 of 22 Title: Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding the Roots, Vols. 1 & 2 Released: 2005-11-15 Tracks: 31 Duration: 2:41:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 No Hometro / Proceed 2 (05:49) 2 Distortion to Static (Black Thought mix) (01:58) 3 What They Do (05:14) 4 The Next Movement (04:10) 5 Good Music (04:08) 6 The Lesson (05:04) 7 Star (05:52) 8 The Hypnotic (04:52) 9 Silent Treatment (06:48) 10 You Got Me (04:56) 11 Clones (04:54) 12 What You Want (04:47) 13 Act Too (Love of My Life) (04:54) 14 Do You Want More?!!!??! (04:44) 15 It’s Comin’ (live at the Trocadero, Illadelph December 1993) (04:19) 16 Double Trouble (06:23) 1 Sacrifice (live on BBC Radio Ones Worldwide Show With Giles Peterson) (06:14) 2 No Alibi (05:26) 3 Essaywhuman?!!!!! (Organix version) (04:19) 4 Break You Off (dub/sound check at Bogarts Cincinnati, Ohio, 2003) (05:27) 5 Quicksand Millennium (04:08) 6 Pass the Popcorn (Revisited) (04:03) 7 Dont Say Nuthin (remix) (03:35) 8 Adrenaline (05:17) 9 The Lesson, Part 3 (03:34) 10 Yall Know Who (03:59) 11 Thought@work (05:21) 12 Boom! (02:58) 13 The Seed / Melting Pot / Web (live on BBC Radio Ones Worldwide Show With Giles Peterson) (16:02) 14 Din Da Da (08:29) 15 The Pros (03:17) |
 | Album: 14 of 22 Title: Game Theory Released: 2006-08-28 Tracks: 14 Duration: 50:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dilltastic Vol Won(derful) (00:28) 2 False Media (02:43) 3 Game Theory (04:01) 4 Don’t Feel Right (04:08) 5 In the Music (04:06) 6 Take It There (02:50) 7 Baby (02:50) 8 Here I Come (04:11) 9 Long Time (04:21) 10 Livin’ in a New World (01:47) 11 Clock With No Hands (04:23) 12 Atonement (02:35) 13 Can’t Stop This (08:39) 14 Bread and Butter (03:40) |
| Game Theory : Allmusic album Review : Game Theory is the Roots equivalent of a Funkadelic playlist containing "Wars of Armageddon," "Cosmic Slop," "Maggot Brain," "March to the Witchs Castle," and "America Eats Its Young." Its a vivid reflector of the times, not an escape hatch (of which there are several readily available options). Spinning turbulence, paranoia, anger, and pain into some of the most exhilarating and startling music released in 2006, the group is audibly galvanized by the worlds neverending tailspin and a sympathetic alignment with Def Jam. Batting around stray ideas and squeezing them into shape was clearly not part of the plan, and neither was getting on the radio. The songs flow into and out of one another to optimal effect, with an impossibly stern sense of peak-of-powers focus, as if the group and its collaborators instantly locked into place and simply knocked the thing out. With the exception of the elbow-throwing "Here I Come," nothing here is suitable for any kind of carefree activity. The extent of the albums caustic nature is tipped off early on, after glancing at the hangman on the cover and hearing Wadud Ahmads penetrating voice run through lines like "Pilgrims, slaves, Indians, Mexicans/It looks real f*cked up for your next of kin." The point at which the album kicks into full gear, just a couple minutes later, arrives when tumbling bass drums and a Sly & the Family Stone sample ("This is a game/Im your specimen") are suddenly overtaken by pure panic -- pulse-racing drums, anxious organ jabs, pent-up guitar snarls, and breathless rhyming from Black Thought and Malik B. "In the Music" exemplifies the deeply textured nature of the albums production work, with its rolling/roiling rhythm -- throbbing bass, clanging percussion, tight spirals of guitar -- made all the more claustrophobic by Porns amorphous chorus and Black Thoughts and Malik B.s hunched-shoulder deliveries. Even "Baby," the closest thing to a breather in this patch of the album, arises from a sweltering jungle bog. After "Long Time," the ninth track, the levels of tension and volume decrease, yet the moods are no brighter, even if the surfaces leave a different impression. "Clock with No Hands" is introduced as a sweet slow jam with a light vocal hook from Mercedes Martinez, but its as paranoid as anything else on the album. Jack Davey projects the chorus of the slower, Radiohead-sampling "Atonement" in a druggy haze while Black Thought speaks of "being faced with the weight of survival." The closer, an eight-minute suite titled "Cant Stop This," features a J Dilla production -- previewed on his Donuts, released the week he left this planet -- that opens and closes with testimonials to the musicians talent and humanity. Taken with or without this staggering finale, Game Theory is a heavy album, the Roots sharpest work. Its destined to become one of Def Jams proudest, if not most popular, moments. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 22 Title: Rising Down Released: 2008-04-28 Tracks: 15 Duration: 47:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Pow Wow (01:15) 2 Rising Down (03:40) 3 Get Busy (03:29) 4 @ 15 (00:51) 5 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction) (03:15) 6 Becoming Unwritten (00:36) 7 Criminal (04:08) 8 I Will Not Apologize (04:34) 9 I Can’t Help It (04:39) 10 Singing Man (04:07) 11 Unwritten (01:22) 12 Lost Desire (03:58) 13 The Show (03:44) 14 Rising Up (04:19) 15 The Pow Wow 2 (03:18) |
| Rising Down : Allmusic album Review : It wouldve been easy for the Roots to sell out. Already one of the few groups whose fans extend beyond the typical alternative rap base, tacking on the acoustic-guitary pop-rap song "Birthday Girl" -- which leaked the month before Rising Downs release and features Patrick Stump crooning "What is it we want to do, now that Im allowed to be alone with you?" -- couldve been a natural, and maybe even excusable move. Excusable as a way to show that the Roots can be lighthearted, fun, and tongue-in-cheek (though anyone whos heard any of their interviews or has frequented ?uestloves blog already knows this to be true); not excusable, however, as the crossover track the label wanted it to be (and in fact, in Japan and Europe, as well as digitally, it remains as such). Fortunately, the Roots were smart and thoughtful enough -- the very qualities of whose criticism led to the creation of "Birthday Girl" -- to realize that its inclusion, even as an afterthought, a bonus track, was detrimental to the effect of the entire album, dumbing down their thoughts on poverty and race and politics with poppy melodies and creepy (albeit ironic) jokes about statutory rape and predatory old men. Because as it stands, Rising Down acts as a powerful statement on contemporary society, a society in which even though the specific issues may have changed (global warming, BET, new technologies), the problems remain the same. For this reason the album begins and ends with a discussion from 1994, where Black Thought and ?uestlove are arguing about then-label Geffen with their managers, and other bits of the past are also spread throughout -- the 1987 freestyle "@15," which complements "75 Bars (Blacks Reconstruction)," the reflection found in "Unwritten" and especially in the cover itself, which nods to the crude caricatures from early America, the black devil wreaking havoc on the white pilgrims below. But it is these very reminders that make the Roots and their message in 2008 so much more relevant: they give context. So when Black Thought says "It is what it is, because of what it was/I did what I did cause it does what it does" in "Criminal," hes not just looking as his characters current situation, hes drawing from history, and his conclusions are based upon lifetimes of "it being it" and "doing what it does," of struggling and fighting and trying to get by, to make it however he can. These same thoughts are echoed by the Roots MC and the myriad talented guests who add their own equally hard-hitting verses to the albums tracks. "My life is on a flight thats going down/My mother had an abortion for the wrong child/...I felt love, thats gone now" Porn rhymes in the disquieting "I Cant Help It" (the other rappers on the song tackle ideas of chemical and monetary addictions), while on "Singing Man," the dark, reticent production gurgles with the pain and anger heard and stated more overtly in the three MCs voices (Porn, Black Thought, and Truck North) as they present the sympathetic -- but not condoning -- perspectives of suicide bombers and campus shooters and child soldiers. Its dark and serious and intense, but Rising Down does offer hope, too, mostly in the form of the closing track, "Rising Up," which features Def Jam backing vocals queen Chrisette Michele, D.C. upstart Wale, and a Jay-Z-friendly beat. "We bout to dominate the world like Oprah did it," Black Thought says to end the song, an optimism thats far more powerful than anything "Birthday Girl" can provide. Those words, confident but not cocky, are the final punctuation -- an ellipsis, though, leading to a yet-completed thought -- on an album thats both revelatory and full of questions, an album that understands its spot in the Roots history and American history, and an album that continues to place the group as one of the countrys most talented and relevant in any genre, no calculated crossover necessary. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 22 Title: How I Got Over Released: 2010-06-22 Tracks: 14 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 A Peace Of Light (?) 2 Walk Alone (?) 3 Dear God 2.0 (?) 4 Radio Daze (?) 5 Now Or Never (?) 6 How I Got Over (?) 7 Dillatude: The Flight Of Titus (?) 8 The Day (?) 9 Right On (?) 10 Doin It Again (?) 11 The Fire (?) 12 Tunnel Vision (?) 13 Web 20/20 (?) 14 Hustla (?) |
| How I Got Over : Allmusic album Review : The not-very-hip-hop Dirty Projectors, Monsters of Folk, Patty Crash, and Joanna Newsom contribute one way or another to How I Got Over. Rest assured, the ninth studio album from the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon house band is very much its own, and skeptics should be reminded that hip-hop history is filled with figures as unlikely as Billy Squier (who probably did not bump into Run-D.M.C. backstage at The Alan Thicke Show). Very much in line with recent albums like Game Theory and Rising Down, neither of which was tailored for a good time, How I Got Over is the most subdued of the three. The blood doesn’t really get pumping until the fifth track. Up to that point, however, the band creates some of its most downcast and alluring material, covering solitude, self-destruction, and just about every planetary ill. It’s all vividly conveyed through pensive arrangements, sobering rhymes, spooky choruses, and even spookier backing vocals. Truck North, P.O.R.N., Dice Raw, and Blu make gripping contributions, but no one cuts to the chase quite like Black Thought, who can condense modern reality into one deftly delivered and commanding line, like “Got immunized for both flus, I’m still sick.” From there, the spirit lifts a little, though the songs are still deeply planted in realism. The title track is modern soul-blues that cooks, assisted by some serious singing from Black Thought and an inspiring chorus from Dice Raw. On “Now or Never,” Phonte’s dejection (“My role was cast before I even auditioned for it”) is tempered with Dice Raws glints of determination. For good measure, or perhaps for the sake of a little balance, the back half also features a hardcore boast session between Thought, Peedi Peedi, and Truck North that cannot be disregarded. This is yet another Roots album that lends itself to repeated, beginning-to-end listening. It is gracefully and cleverly sequenced, from the way the tracks melt into each other to the way “Doin’ It Again” utilizes John Legends anguished “Again” prior to transitioning into the subtly anthemic “The Fire,” which features a fresh collaboration with…John Legend. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 22 Title: Wake Up! Released: 2010-09-17 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:02:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Hard Times (05:16) 2 Compared to What (06:26) 3 Wake Up Everybody (04:24) 4 Our Generation (The Hope of the World) (03:15) 5 Little Ghetto Boy (prelude) (01:58) 6 Little Ghetto Boy (05:26) 7 Hang On in There (07:15) 8 Humanity (Love the Way It Should Be) (03:49) 9 Wholy Holy (05:50) 10 I Can’t Write Left Handed (11:44) 11 I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (02:42) 12 Shine (04:43) |
 | Album: 18 of 22 Title: Betty Wright: The Movie Released: 2011-11-15 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:17:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Old Songs (05:39) 2 Real Woman (05:35) 3 In the Middle of the Game (Dont Change the Play) (03:56) 4 Surrender (05:07) 5 Grapes on a Vine (05:16) 6 Look Around (Be a Man) (05:07) 7 Tonight Again (05:24) 8 Hollywould (06:40) 9 Whisper in the Wind (05:26) 10 Baby Come Back (04:39) 11 So Long, So Wrong (03:38) 12 You & Me, Leroy (05:36) 13 The One (06:06) 14 Go! (live) (09:41) |
| Betty Wright: The Movie : Allmusic album Review : Betty Wright: The Movie is this Miami soul legend’s first album since 2001’s Fit for a King, but it’s hardly a return. During Wright’s decade away from making her own records, she was busy helping others -- including Kelly Clarkson, Joss Stone, Diddy, Keyshia Cole, and Lil Wayne -- as a songwriter, arranger, producer, and background vocalist. Here, she links up with the intrepid Roots crew and several supplemental session musicians, and she wrangles complementary appearances from Stone and the tremendously underappreciated Lenny Williams, as well as disruptive interjections from Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg. Most of the songs were either written or co-written by Angelo Morris, who has been collaborating with Wright since the late ‘80s. It’s Wright’s best-sounding album since her self-titled 1981 release for Epic, with her backing band emulating vintage soul one moment and switching it up for more modern (and wholly appropriate) sounds the next. Wright sounds terrific, navigating through the upbeat, attitudinal jams and slower, romantic cuts with finesse and strength. | ||
 | Album: 19 of 22 Title: undun Released: 2011-12-05 Tracks: 14 Duration: 38:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dun (01:16) 2 Sleep (02:15) 3 Make My (04:27) 4 One Time (03:55) 5 Kool On (03:48) 6 The OtherSide (04:03) 7 Stomp (02:23) 8 Lighthouse (03:43) 9 I Remember (03:14) 10 Tip the Scale (04:17) 11 Redford Suite: Redford (For Yia‐Yia & Pappou) (01:51) 12 Redford Suite: Possibility (2nd Movement) (00:55) 13 Redford Suite: Will to Power (3rd Movement) (01:03) 14 Redford Suite: Finality (4th Movement) (01:31) |
| undun : Allmusic album Review : The Roots umpteenth album is titled after a Guess Who song mutilated by countless lounge bands since 1969. It incorporates a Sufjan Stevens recording, mixtape-style, for the purpose of starting a four-part instrumental suite that closes a program lasting only 40 minutes. Based on those details, it would not be irrational to think that the band’s well of inspiration might be dry or tainted. While the well might be slightly tainted, it is full. Undun is based on the life of Redford Stephens, a fictional product of inner-city New York who was born in the mid-‘70s and tragically passed in 1999, the point at which the album begins -- with a quiet EKG flatline. Appearances from MCs Big K.R.I.T., Dice Raw, Phonte, Greg Porn, and Truck North, as well as contributions by singers Aaron Earl Livingston and Bilal, flank principal voice Black Thought, yet this is no hip-hop opera or anything close to a typical concept album. The existential rhymes, seemingly created with a shared vision, avoid outlining specific events and focus on ruminations that are grave and penetrating, as if each vocalist saw elements of himself and those he has known in Redford. What’s more, Undun probably shatters the record for fewest proper nouns on a rap album, with the likes of Hammurabi, Santa Muerte, and Walter Cronkite mentioned rather than the names of those who are physically involved in Stephens’ life. (The album’s app, filled with video clips and interviews with Stephens’ aunt, teachers, and peers, provides much more typical biographical information.) Musically, Undun flows easier and slower than any other Roots album. The backdrops ramp up with slight gradations, from soft collisions of percussion and keys (“Sleep”), to balmy gospel-soul (“Make My”), to Sunday boom-bap (“One Time”). Theres a slight drop into sinewy funk (“Kool On”) that leads into a sustained stretch of stern, hunched-shoulder productions, highlighted by the crisply roiling “Lighthouse,” that match the cold realism of the lyrics. The strings in the slightly wistful “I Remember” and completely grim “Tip the Scale” are a setup for the Redford suite, which is nothing like padding. It glides through the movements, involving mournful strings, a violent duel between drummer ?uestlove and guest pianist D.D. Jackson, and a lone death note that fades 37 seconds prior to silence. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 22 Title: Wise Up Ghost Released: 2013-09-16 Tracks: 12 Duration: 56:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Walk Us Uptown (03:22) 2 Sugar Won’t Work (03:31) 3 Refuse to Be Saved (04:23) 4 Wake Me Up (05:52) 5 Tripwire (04:28) 6 Stick Out Your Tongue (05:28) 7 Come the Meantimes (03:53) 8 (She Might Be a) Grenade (04:36) 9 Cinco minutos con vos (05:01) 10 Viceroy’s Row (05:01) 11 Wise Up Ghost (06:27) 12 If I Could Believe (03:58) |
| Wise Up Ghost : Allmusic album Review : Musicians separated by age, style, and demographic, Elvis Costello and the Roots are nevertheless natural collaborators bound by wide taste, insatiable appetite, and fathomless record collections. This is particularly true of Roots drummer/de facto bandleader ?uestlove, the musical omnivore who is the bands most recognizable member and perhaps the only popular musician outside of Costello who values the music press. This is not incidental to Wise Up Ghost, the unexpected 2013 collaboration between Costello and the Roots. As recognizable as both parties are -- the Roots are Jimmy Fallons house band, soon to inherit the throne from Doc Severinsen on The Tonight Show; Elvis Costello seizes any opportunity to ham it up on camera -- neither are exactly popular popular artists. Between the two of them, they have a grand total of four Billboard Top 40 hits -- two apiece -- which suggests that their instincts run against the grain, something ?uestlove admits in his 2013 memoir, Mo Meta Blues, when he confesses he always preferred deep cuts to hit singles. This sensibility thrives on Wise Up Ghost, which quickly dismisses its two potential crossover singles -- the ominous "Walk Us Uptown," which is the greatest indication of the albums vibe, then the slyly funky slow groove "Sugar Wont Work" -- before getting down to the hard work of recontextualizing forgotten music from Costellos Warner years while offering barbed social commentary in the vein of Whats Going On or Theres a Riot Goin On. Here, the projects origin as a wildly imaginative reinterpretation of Costellos back catalog is evident, but it also speaks to how Elvis rose to the challenge of working with a live hip-hop band. Lacking the context of heavy samples, he nevertheless embraced hip-hops postmodernism by jamming together the lyrics of "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" and "Pills and Soap" for "Stick Out Your Tongue," while "Refuse to Be Saved" evokes the ghost of the Dirty Dozen Brass Bands appearance on "Chewing Gum" and "Tripwire" suggests "Satellite." These two songs were on Spike -- which wouldve been the Costello album on the charts while ?uestlove was in high school, also not entirely a coincidence -- and much of the sensibility of Wise Up Ghost derives from those sometimes underappreciated early Warner albums Spike and Mighty Like a Rose, two albums overly dense in sonic and lyrical detail. So too is Wise Up Ghost, a record that flaunts its cerebellum as it progresses, but the Roots emphasis on smart, textured grooves grounds the album even if it hardly widens the albums potential audience. This is an exquisitely detailed, imaginative record that pays back dividends according to how much knowledge, either of Costello or the Roots or their idols, a listener brings to the album. Its not exactly alienating but Wise Up Ghost does require work from its audience, and the more you know -- and the more you listen -- the better it seems. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 22 Title: Wise Up: Thought - Remixes and Reworks Released: 2013-11-29 Tracks: 7 Duration: 20:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Cinco Minutos Con Vos (Karriem Riggins remix) (04:09) 2 Sugar Wont Work (Karriem Riggins beat interlude) (00:49) 3 Come the Meantimes (Karriem Riggins remix) (03:40) 4 The Puppet Has Cut Its Strings (Karriem Riggins beat interlude) (00:50) 5 Tripwire (Menahan Street Band rework) (03:31) 6 Viceroys Road (Karriem Riggins beat interlude) (01:22) 7 Walk Us Uptown (Antibalas rework - Chico Mann edit) (05:56) |
 | Album: 22 of 22 Title: …and Then You Shoot Your Cousin Released: 2014-05-19 Tracks: 11 Duration: 33:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Theme From Middle of the Night (01:27) 2 Never (03:54) 3 When the People Cheer (03:01) 4 The Devil (00:38) 5 Black Rock (02:41) 6 Understand (02:50) 7 Dies Irae (01:07) 8 The Coming (03:01) 9 The Dark (Trinity) (05:17) 10 The Unraveling (04:20) 11 Tomorrow (05:06) |
| …and Then You Shoot Your Cousin : Allmusic album Review : The Roots album graced by a Romare Bearden collage is less than half the length of each studio set the group released from 1995 through 2002. It might be the one that requires the most deep listening to absorb. Part of that can be attributed to the array of voices, or characters -- the widest variety of Roots guests yet. Given that, as well as the collage-like insertion of three preexisting recordings, it could be disregarded as less a Roots album than Wise Up Ghost, their Elvis Costello fling. Framed as conceptual, its an examination of self-destructive cycles with materialism, god, and the devil all factors as much as any of the instrumentalists. In a way, its one facet of the Roots in severely concentrated form. Black Thought, as ever, sharply portrays a man trying to make the most out of suffocating circumstances. He enters on the creeping dread of "Never," a song that also features Patty Crash in singing Talky Tina mode, with "I was born faceless in a oasis/Folks disappear here and leave no traces." On the following "When the People Cheer," hes even more penetrating and provocative, "Searchin for physical pleasure if I dont go mental first." Those songs, along with the harder-hitting "Black Rock" and "Understand," are childs play relative to what follows. The album pivots on a jarring minute-length extract from experimental composer Michel Chions "Requiem." Then, a chilling piano-and-strings ballad fronted by Mercedes Martinez stammers and slips into chaos. Over casually tense drums and piano, "The Dark (Trinity)" involves Black Thought, Dice Raw, and Greg Porn, who blur the line between boastful and despondent; Dice Raws verse, where he wonders how he went from lusting after Jordans to wanting one of his "bitches" to get an abortion, is coldest of all. "The Unraveling" is a dejected shuffle -- proper support for Raheem DeVaughns conflicting thoughts of rebirth and emptiness -- with a lullaby break. DeVaughn continues to lead on the finale, "Tomorrow," a sonically sprightly number that can be taken as sarcastic, from the whistled intro to the singers "Im thankful to be alive, cause you sleep from eleven to seven, and work hard from nine to five." When it seems like the simple and chipper rhythm is about to fade away, the piano switches course and shifts into one of the most gorgeous melodies heard on any Roots album. It crash-lands, abruptly ending an album that, depending on the amount of time spent with it, will seem either fragmentary and hollow or fathoms deep -- either a trifle or among the groups most remarkable work. | ||