The Roots: Things Fall Apart ---Ink Blot Magazine

The Roots: Things Fall Apart

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The Roots,
"100% Dundee"

at a glance...

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Formed: circa 1992

Members:
?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson) -drums
Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) -lead vocalist
Malik B. (Malik Abdul-Bassit) -vocals
Kamal -keyboards
Leonard Hubbard -bass
Rahzel -vocal percussion, beat box
guests:
Dice Raw -vocals
Scratch -vocal percussion, beat box

Related Artists :
Common, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Bahamadia, Erykah Badu, Black Star, Mos Def, D'Angelo, Jill Scott

Notes:
In the fall of '87, Tariq Trotter (Black Thought) and Ahmir Thompson (?uestlove) met at The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, and an immediate bond was formed. The product of a musical family, Thompson had been drumming since he was a child, while Trotter was always looking for opportunities to drop freestyle lyrics. They entered a talent show (with renowned jazz musician Christian McBride, a childhood friend of Thompson's, on bass), and the response was tremendous. The two then took to the streets, setting up makeshift drum kits on South Philly corners and performing freestyle hip hop sessions. Five years later, with the addition of a second lyricist (Malik B.), keyboards, bass and beatbox master Rahzel and their corner gigs reaching legendary status in Philly, jazz bassist Jamaldeen Tacuma offered to take the crew on his European tour with him. They went, put together Organix, their first LP, to promote on the trip, and returned to a host of offers from major record labels. Their second album, Do You Want More?!!!!, received critical acclaim but limited commercial success, while their third, illadelph halflife, was equally lauded and sold relatively well.

The Roots
Things Fall Apart
MCA, Released 1999

Chinua Achebe is best known for penning one of modern Africa's best works of fiction, "Things Fall Apart," but few realize that Achebe was also one of the moving spirits behind the recognition and revitalization of the arts in his native Nigeria. The Roots' decision to borrow the title of Achebe's best-known work seems to suggest a negative take on the state of hip hop, but instead the group follows Achebe's lead and continues their quest to push the artistic elements of hip hop until someone decides to pay attention.

Notice has been served.

A lot has changed for The Roots since the street corner freestyle sessions of the late 80s, but the absolutely insatiable appetite they have for hip hop remains the foundation of their fourth album. All of their work has reflected this love, but Things Fall Apart just comes right out and says it - "Hip hop, you the love of my life," says Black Thought on "Act Too (The Love of My Life)," a track that serenades the genre like a queen. Things... displays a squad continuing to hone its sound through unending devotion to studio precision and experimentation. As on illadelph halflife, the choice of guests reveals their ability to define entirely new sounds strictly by their own interpretations of classic methods, from their use of Philly native Schooly D's old-school "Saturday Night" beat on "Without a Doubt" to the vintage scratching of DJ Jazzy Jeff atop choir vocals on "The Next Movement."

Like those before it, this Roots album is defined by the bevy of tracks that require multiple listens, but two immediate head-nodders stand out. The dazzling "100% Dundee" is an aural waterfall of piano keys and trenchant lyrics in the same vein as illadelph's Q-Tip collaboration "Ital Side," while the group's first breakthrough hit, "You Got Me," is a spine tingling tale of love that incorporates Erykah Badu's lilting voice over juicy keys and some stellar ?uestlove beats, which build into a drum-n-bass style crescendo.

Hip hop as art is in good hands.

If you like The Roots, check out:
The Roots The Roots Come Alive
The Roots illadelph halflife
Jill Scott Who Is Jill Scott?
The Roots Do You Want More ?!!!??!
A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory
Common One Day It'll All Make Sense
Erykah Badu Baduizm

-- Jim Welte

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