Send "The Roots " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Ew |
 Has working for Jimmy Fallon dulled the Roots' edge? Not a bit. The venerable hip-hop band's first effort since joining NBC's late-night lineup delivers all the funk/soul/jazz vibes fans have come to expect. Plus it features their most successful forays yet into the world of indie rock — not least the plaintive Monsters of Folk collab...full text |
| Rapreviews |
| As enjoyable as The Roots' 2008 album "Rising Down" was, I couldn't escape a pervasive feeling of sadness given the group declared it would be their FINAL statement with no more to come. Few rap groups stay together as long as The Roots did, fewer still had as much influence over my love for hip-hop music and culture as they did. In fact The Roots made me fall in love with Philadelphia to the degree I once believed the whole future of hip-hop was to be found within the confines of Brotherly Love, simply because The Roots had not only rewritten the blueprint for rap success they made it so easy for everyone else to check it out their library and either follow it or build upon it. For whatever reason it's been almost 20 years since "Organix" was released and no one else has been able to do it how they do it. Many tried, a few came close, but ultimately none could really compare to Black Thought, ?uestlove, Malik B and family. As such The Roots declaring retirement was for me like losing a lifelong friend. "Rising Down" is a phenomenal album, but it broke my heart. The Roots weren't coming back. They'd finally had it with the fucked up music industry and decided to get out before they got too bitter and jaded or wound up turning on each other. I couldn't blame them but I couldn't help feeling life just wouldn't be the same. To my wonderment and surprise though, The Roots came back. I was stunned to learn that they would be the in house band for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," the new show that would debut once Conan O'Brien left his own late night talk show to take over vaunted TV program "The Tonight Show." Well we all know how that worked out for O'Brien in the end, but none of that dustup ever affected Jimmy Fallon's slot or The Roots welcome presence on talk show TV. It was a surprisingly natural fit that really shouldn't have been that surprising given that The Roots have always relied on live music and their live band to create jams, taking an idea Stetsasonic once championed to the furthest extent possible it could be taken. Given the group can freestyle songs, cover other hip-hop artists and make new shit up at the drop of a dime in concert, how hard could it be to do the same for a studio audience every night? In fact it's the most enviable of all gigs any band could ever have - guaranteed dates, a new crowd every night, a steady source of income and instead of going on tour the whole world comes to your door. The comfort and security of this environment turned out to be artistically inspiring for the legendary Roots crew, and "How I Got Over" is the result of finding their love all over again. PHILLY IS BACK BABY. "Uh huh, they said he's busy hold the line please Call me crazy, I thought maybe he could mind read Who does the blind lead? Show me a sign please If everything is made in China are we Chinese? And why do haters separate us like we siamese? Technology turning the planet into zombies Everybody all in everybody's dirty laundry Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricane, tsunamis Terrorists, crime sprees, assaults and robberies Cops yelling 'stop freeze', shoot him 'fore he try to leave Air quality so foul, I gotta try to breathe Endangered species, and we running out of trees If I could hold the world in the palm of these hands, I would probably do away with these anomalies Everybody checking for the new award nominees Wars and atrocities, look at all the poverty Ignoring the prophecies, more beef than broccoli Corporate monopoly, weak world economy Stock markets toppling, mad marijuana OxyContin and Klonopin, everybody out of it" "Dear God 2.0" is more than just a hip-hop song, more than just a new jam from the Roots band, it is a STATEMENT. The song soars over harp strings, floats over ?uest's drumming, and the quizzically named Monsters of Folk sing the opening, closing and middle with a plaintive request for God to show him/herself. Thought will have none of it though - he's training his highly observant eye on the world around him and stating the Godlessness of it in no uncertain terms. "Look how they got me on the Def Jam payment plan" raps Thought, admitting that he too has fallen victim to the system before he finally breaks down and apologizes for his lack of faith - then moments later goes right back to challenging the status quo. "Why is the world ugly when you made it in your image?" Good question, and one with no easy answers. Like they've always done since the earliest days, The Roots are pleasing you musically at the same time they stimulate you intellectually. The message doesn't usurp the groove or vice versa - they compliment each other like yin and yang - one simply couldn't exist without the other. The Monsters of Folk aren't the only guests they've invited to join the party on their triumphant return. Of course you'd expect Dice Raw to be on a handful of the songs, but it's a pleasant surprise to catch underground favorite Blu on "Radio Daze" and Little Brother frontman/fan favorite Phonte on "Now or Never." It's even more unexpected to hear indie folk singer Joanna Newsom sharing billing with the rapping of STS on "Right On," though her wailing vocals fit perfectly over the tight Roots melody. So too does John Legend find himself comfortable over the upbeat, anthemic, and damn slamming track "The Fire." Although his hook makes it right for the radio, Black Thought's clearly the star:...full text |
| Nytimes |
| Any hip-hop act but the Roots would be bragging about camera time on “How I Got Over,” their first studio album since becoming the supremely flexible house band for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” Reaching a nationwide television audience every weeknight, the Roots may be the most widely seen hip-hop group ever. But there’s no TV-star smugness on the Roots’ ninth studio album, “How I Got Over.” Instead, the group’s first album since starting the “Late Night” job is a serious deliberation on perseverance: a message for an era of recession. “Some feeling a pinch, some feeling a bite/They ain’t ready to talk, they all ready to fight,” goes the chorus of “Radio Daze.” “How I Got Over” is named after a gospel standard — a Clara Ward song made famous by Mahalia Jackson — and there’s a streak of the church in the Roots’ new songs. Many of them ride piano chords, talk about God and prayer and call on listeners to keep struggling, as the album sequence moves from solitary desperation (“Walk Alone”) to determination (“Now or Never”). But the optimistic certainties of gospel are rare. Most songs are in stark minor keys, and hope is never guaranteed. The first single, “Dear God 2.0,” spins off the Monsters of Folk song “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” in which Jim James (from My Morning Jacket) sings, “Sometimes it’s so hard to believe”; Black Thought, the Roots’ rapper, adds grim details. The album’s title track is not the Ward song, but advice on ghetto survival. “How I Got Over” ignores hip-hop’s fantasies of fame, lust and strip-club V.I.P. rooms. “You came to celebrate/I came to cerebrate,” Black Thought declares in “The Fire.” The music also spurns current programmed beats and Auto-Tuned choruses (until the final track, “Hustla”). The Roots prefer Ahmir (Questlove) Thompson’s sinewy boom-bap drumming, voices that sound human and vintage-style soul vamps played by the band itself (though there are samples, too)....full text |
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