The Roots

One of my favorite groups has always been The Roots, simply because they transcend genres. They are such a great hip-hop group, with Black Thought being, in my opinion, one of the best rappers out there, and at the same time they are a fun band to listen to, with a great horn section. The first time I saw them live ranks in my top 5 concerts that I've been to. So over the last two days, I listened through their entire discography, a lot of which I had never heard before, and wrote more mini-reviews on each album.

The Roots - Organix (1993) 7.5/10
The little-known, often forgotten, indie label debut from The Roots. I really didnt know what to expect going in, since I know the Roots have changed as a group so much since the beginning. It was a good album, though; especially for a debut. Its soulful and jazzy, not to mention I'm a sucker for "real" instrumentation on hip hop tracks (as opposed to computer-produced beats). Lyrically, Black Thought isn't quite as good as he is now, but still sounds great and is still better than most people out there. Even ?uestlove raps on a couple of tracks, which I wasn't expecting at all. My only problem was the it seems to drag a little and becomes kind of repetitive. Nothing really pops out at you and it just kind of keeps the same tone throughout instead of mixing it up.

The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995) 8/10
This was a little better than "Organix". They obviously had better production because they were signed to a major label and it shows. Everything sounds cleaner and more fine-tuned. Black Thought is evolving as an artist and songwriter. It just sounds like a more complete album. Also, Rahzel was a member of The Roots at the time, and he adds that extra pop that I mentioned "Organix" not having. Overall, a solid album, some good tracks, but nothing really memorable.

The Roots - Illadelph Halflife (1996) 8.5/10
This is the first album I recognized a song or two on. While many people regard it as one of the best, if not the best, albums from The Roots, I didn't really see it being too special. It's really just the first album by The Roots that we know today. Almost like the first two albums were warm-ups. It's got a much more commercial sound with R&B hooks and whatnot. Some tracks, this works really well on, but on a lot of them it just makes them seem fake. It doesnt have the chill jam-band feeling of the previous 2 albums. So while its overall a much better album with some great tracks and a great new direction, the fact that they lost the sound of being an "indie band", for the lack of a better term.

The Roots - Things Fall Apart (1999) 9.5/10
One of the best. Its like they took "Illadelph Halflife" and perfected it. They somehow find a happy medium between sounding commercial and sounding like a band. It goes back to being funky and cool and jazzy, but keeps the upbeat mainstream sound that makes it fun. There are several memorable tracks, obviously including "You Got Me" ft. Erykah Badu, which won a Grammy. Other great guest spots by Common and Mos Def help round out the album. Its just so good. My only complaint is that it runs long, at just over 70min, and I can see where cutting out a couple of tracks would've made the album perfect.

The Roots - Phrenology (2002) 9/10
My favorite Roots album. Its the perfect length, and is basically more of the all-around complete greatness that was captured on "Things Fall Apart". 2 Kweli features are both awesome. The flow and feeling of the album is a little more well-rounded and complete than "Things Fall Apart". I think the only thing I didn't like was that it wasnt really anything new. They didnt really grow between albums at all, and as much as they didn't have to because both of these albums are amazing, I like to see artists try new things. Great album though... I really love it.

The Roots - The Tipping Point (2004) 8/10
Underrated. I feel like nobody ever talks about this album, and its pretty good. With that said, its not nearly as good as "Things Fall Apart" or "Phrenology". It sounds a lot more mainstream, which in this case isn't really a good thing. It sounds like they tried to preserve that groovy Roots feel and it just didn't work out that well. It's also too short for me. The production sounds good for a mainstream rap album, but bad for a Roots album. The rapping is on point stylistically, but content-wise I wish it were stronger. Its a good album, and actually the first Roots album I ever heard in full, back when it came out 4 years ago.

The Roots - Game Theory (2006) 8/10
I forgot about this album. I really like it, even though its not "classic" material or anything. It's really serious and to the point, covering some deep/heavy topics. Its more tied together as an album, with a lot of seamless transitions between tracks, which I like. There's a handful of good songs, but also a bunch of songs I already forget about. As it is the Roots 7th album, I'm not really impressed. But if I heard this having never listened to them before, I'd probably be blown away. So I'll settle somewhere in the middle, like I did with "The Tipping Point."

The Roots - Rising Down (2008) 8/10
Another solid album. I hadn't listened to this is several months, but I really liked it. It's in my Top 10 of the year, though dangling on at number 10. In the same way that I saw "Phrenology" being basically "Things Fall Apart" Volume 2, I think Rising Down feels a lot like "Game Theory" Volume 2. It has the same serious tone and heavy subject matter, with the rhymes and production both tight and really enjoyable. My problem with the album is that there are too many features. Although almost everyone featured does really well on the album, I just hate it when people have features in almost every track. I need more Black Thought verses. I don't listen to the Roots because I wanna hear Dice Raw or P.o.r.n. So its a good album, but clearly not the Roots' best.