The Roots carry on

The Roots are the band known to listeners of different ages and loved by followers of various genres. They started out as one of hip-hop pioneers and then went on to add touches from other schools. The ability of these musicians to evolve and transfigure their sound is the key to holding on to the elite league for so long. However, many were set to believe that the 2008 release of Rising Down was the last long player in The Roots collection. That was the group’s darkest work that planted seeds of pessimism in the hearts of its numerous fans. There was a widespread opinion that, before leaving the stage for a long-deserved rest, The Roots decided to preach about the stigmas of the contemporary global community. Nevertheless, in less than year, the ensemble premiered a single called How I Got Over that later was announced as the title track to the upcoming full-length effort. How I Got Over is the ninth album from The Roots that puts it more than clear that the band has not sung the sawn song yet, no matter what the age.

Multitude of guest artists and plenty of excellent lyrics

The album is opened by A Piece of Light that may easily fling you into confusion. The Roots have long been reputed for their experiments with rap and modifying it at their will this way or another, but playing modern days jazz with funk marking is something in their arsenal. And then comes the time for The Roots traditional type of music. Walk Alone has a very sad story and understated keys that distract you from anything else so that you do not notice how these keys carry you over to the next Dear God 2.0,one more effort by one more artist to get a straight answer from the Almighty. The songs are different to the largest extent because of the choruses in many cases decorated by the voices of the guest singers. Particularly many parts are entrusted to P.O.R.N., and Dice Raw. You will enjoy the singing of John Legend who did his work for The Fire. The vocals and supreme lyrics often overshadow the hard work done by other participants of the project, specifically ideally timed beats fitting perfectly house parties. Only in the last track of the album, Hustla, beats flow to the top thank to especially heavy and thick basses. This composition does not have much in common with the rest of the material from The Roots; and this, as strange as it sounds, helps you get more focus on the other songs of How I Got Over.

Too early to say good bye

The Roots have only one more step to make to reach the landmark of ten studio albums. We have to admit that today the band’s CD do not sell as massively as they did ten or fifteen years ago; but these musicians have not realized their potential to the last yet, which is proved by their new long player. The subjects raised in the texts of The Roots freshly released album are again connected with issues of religion, politics and culture. Yet, this time, the musicians decided that there is still hope. The lines in the chorus of How I Got Over saying that there must be someone who cares become the motto of the entire album. While the music, arrangements and flawless vocals of How I Got Over remind us that The Roots had the right reason to call themselves a ‘legendary crew’, the lyrics reminds us that although there are many bad things in this world, men must find the inner strength to resist the band fight for the good.

Alex Bartholomew
08.07.2010