A lot of heads have criticized The Roots in the last 5 years, claiming that they fell off from the old days. And I have to say that my position is the COMPLETE opposite. To me they have progressed to such a crisp, smart style recently that they make pretty much everyone else look like amateurs. The last 4 tracks to have leaked from this album are air tight.
This is my joint right here ft Mos Def, who actually throws down a Black Star-esque verse.
THE ROOTS FT MOS DEF & STYLES P - RISING DOWN
Friday, March 14, 2008
Got Mother Nature Doing Backflips
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My declining interests in albums by the Roots by DJ Eurok
I fell in love with the roots on "do you want more" as a freshman in college. It was 95 and i hadn't heard midnite marauders yet (no lupe)
then illadelph dropped and I was like, man this record sucks - what happened to that jazz feel, where's scott storch, where are the soprano saxaphones?
Slowly, Illadelph Halflife became my soundtrack for a few depressing few months in the philly area where it was overcast all the time and i spent a lot of time on southeastern pennsylvania transportation authority. The record's dark themes grew on me. Then I saw them live a few times, in Philly, and was a believer.
fast forward to things fall apart - a really solid album. By now, the live show is on lock and the group is really dope. you couldn't really front on em. we booked em to play on campus, shit was nuts. one of the illest live shows i have ever seen.
*insert all the summer suburbs festivals, okayplayer phenomena and general roots-related online discussions, kamal and that klang shit, malik b disappearing, a whole lot of songs ABOUT hip hop and how much black thought loves hip hop, j-dillapropriation, the live shows not changing that much, major label politics, quest love gossip and a general changing of the times in turn of the century hip hop**
By the time Phrenology dropped, i was in auto-pilot mode, like, VINYL + HIP HOP + ROOTS = BUY. Done waiting for the classic album, i just needed a few tracks here and there to play as a dj.
I donwloaded tipping point, played the singles on vinyl, and forgot about the album.
I still haven't heard Game Theory in its entirety. I know I know. I hope this new album is good. I'm looking forward to it...
sorry for the long post.PEACE
Word Eurok ... thanks for the in depth post, much appreciated. Get the conversation going.
I would say that Im with on most of this -- especially the fact that Roots albums have become more seperate solid singles than continuous sonically whole albums. That I definitely agree on.
But albums like Game Theory and the Tipping Point are worth a second look. The composition of these tracks, as well as Thought's tightened flow both say improvement to me. The entire albums aren't as good, but the sound is more complex, deeper, tighter ...
Listen to the oldest Roots albums and hear Thought's wordplay and it ain't got shit on tracks like Web.
From Game Theory you've got "Baby," "Game Theory,"Take It There." These are still in constant rotation for me. From The Tipping Point you have "Web" (really one of my favorite tracks by ANYONE), "Star," "Why?"
Granted Im pulling singles, so your argument still holds. But you hear what Im saying?
For those of you who don't know Eurok, head over to upsetthesetup.wordpress.com to see how he does. Dude runs one of my favorite blogs.
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