The Roots

The Roots are a group that just seems to get better and better with every album. Thinking and proactive musicians with style and class to the end…and the way they’re going, the end doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.

I never really was a big Roots fan. In the early days, they were that old school Hip Hop that reminded me of the likes of Jurassic 5, De La Soul and Blackalicious. There’s nothing wrong with that I hear some of you say. True dat. But even though I was exposed from every angle as a young man to the emerging hip hop & rap genre, it took me a long time to really begin to love the art of it.

See, I still remember being a regular at Central Station Records on Flinders in the late 80’s, early 90’s and recall clearly the want to love albums like Fear of a Black Planet or Straight Outta Compton, but I think that because I was bought up…um….how do I say this….softer? [By this I’m referring to influences such as Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand & The Doobie Bros], it took some time fro me to discover the power and beauty in the dark side of music. And even then, those groundbreaking albums from the likes of NWA or Public Enemy were somehow two shades too angry for me to really put on and get right into.

It wasn’t until Brother Johnny [my actual & only brother] started coming into his teenage years and for him, naturally fell into the hip hip scene. So, via a three year age gap, I began to take most of my Rap & Hip Hop influences from him. Beginning with the iconic Beatnuts, it began to influence my musical tastes quite dramatically. I’ve since come to understand that it was the more laid back, sitting on the back of the beat temperament that I really began to enjoy.

Toward the end of the 90’s I was aware of the Roots, but I’d never really given them the time of day. Don’t ask me why. Now that I’ve immersed myself in their catalogue, its hard not to acknowledge that they’ve had the most impressive musicality since the first album….even if it was less mature than the later albums. My wife was actually a bigger fan than I was during the early 00’s. I remeber having CD’s of their 2002 album ‘Phrenology’ and the 2006 ‘Game Theory’. Still, as much as they’d developed, they still had that undeniable base Rap essence that I will always love, but not enough to dive into that album and get so wet that you know every word, sample and fill.

But something happened before the 2010 album “How I Got Over”. It’s like they moved from old school beats into a more cinematic space, giving their albums an amazing mix of low key rap partnered with electro synth. Sound a little left of centre? Well, if you’re not into this style of music, it may be. But acknowledge that these guys have stood the test of time and come out the other end smelling like roses.

Its hard to quantify which album is their best via their commercial success. But I can confidently say that after being exposed to all of their albums over the space of 15 years previous, ‘How I Got Over’ changed the game for me. Not just with The Roots, but with the musicality of Hip Hop in general. It’s like they were always painting shades of blue and my favourite colour was green and even though I like blue, there was never enough green for me to really take it to heart. And then they create a new shade of blue that has just enough green it to shift my love of the colour blue forever. It was phenomenal. I could easily put this album into my top 10 of all time at certain times of the day.

The complexity of how Tariq Trotter [aka Black Thought] and Ahmir Thompson [aka Questlove] built the tracks to this album continually have me in awe. Black Thought has always been amazing in his lyrical ability. His inflections partnered with the tempo of the beat is in my opinion one of the best in the industry…ever. But what we often over look is the genius that is Questlove. The afro wearing big man drummer who is often the instigator of the musical temperament of the group. If I were writing this pre 2010, even though their musicality was good, I don’t think I would have praising them. But this album changed all of that for me.

‘How I Got Over’ has received critical acclaim for it’s ” slow-grooving sound, its guest artists’ contributions, and its content’s lyrical depth”. Apart from being a fucking epic album, I reckon that about sums it up.

Tracks like ‘Radio Daze’, ‘The Day’ & ‘Doin it Again’ amongst others all make this an unbelievably rich release. But I have to say that track two ‘Walk Alone’ makes the album. It’s that song that really introduces the album. With a piano score that partnered with old school drums makes the hip hop really easy to digest. It’s down tempo and super easy to listen to while you’re working [I say that as I’m a designer and get to be on my computer all day which also lets me listen to tunes all day]. So if you do have an inclination to this kind of music, please please please give this a listen. You will thank yourself…or me. Either way, its all good.

They are widely known as a very political group with messages of ill harmony and injustice all the way through their back catalogue [Which Hip Hop Group doesn’t?] But, it is worth saying that the change I mentioned before is often credited to the exiting of the Bush administration and the entering of Obama. What I’ve learned from listening to them as well as reading and discovering more about the group is that they are not just political, but intelligent with a wisdom that only comes with years of activism. In someways I can’t identify to a great deal of messages that are relayed through Rap & Hip Hop because they often speak of a culture I’ve never really been exposed to let alone have an understanding of to the degree in which many artists come from and furthermore write about. But that should never stop anyone from listening to it, enjoying it and being moved by it.

Musical empathy is something that I think we should all be taught as young people. To try and put ourselves in the shoes of those writing the music. To begin to understand both the story behind why they write what they write as well as why they embody the music the way they do. People have asked forever why some music is good and why some isn’t. In my listening experience, its mostly because of the artists intent. And if thats the case, these guys have got it nailed.

You may have seen them more recently on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. They’re the house band [which I still find remarkable], and they do a kick arse job. They’re there every night fine tuning their skills. They’ve released two albums since How I Got Over. ‘Undun’ & ‘…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin’. Both of which have followed the same temperament that was instigated by the 2010 album. Cinematic. Orchestral. Like a soundtrack nearly. Lots of samples arranged beautifully to bring Black Thoughts voice to its best platform.

So if you’re not inclined to listen to Hip Hip, no matter what I write here will probs encourage you to take these guys under your wing and make them as much a part of your listening landscape as we have. But if you’re on the fence and have often wondered if there is a balance between Hip Hop and something a little more easily digestible than the A-Typical versions of Rap you may have heard in past, maybe make a little time for these guys. Its not all bitches & hoes. It is something much more. Quite aptly, when I think about ‘How I Got Over’ my resistance to the Roots, it was via this album and its impossible to look back.

M /

~ Article Updated March 2020