One of the most seldom used words in the Hip-Hop vernacular happens to be ‘longevity.’ It may be a pretty common word when it comes to society as a whole, but within the Hip-Hop community, it’s almost non-existent.
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There are only a handful of acts in the genre that can attest to having that word attached to their career, and a respectable catalog to go with it—and The Roots are most certainly at the top of that list.
Known more for their hectic touring schedule, and ability to fill up venues rather than cash registers at your local Best Buy, the Philly natives slowed down their worldwide hustle last year get regular day jobs by being the house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, but that didn’t detract them from releasing their 11th studio album in How I Got Over.
With a penchant for featuring quality MC’s on their projects, How I Got Over is no different as Black Thought, ?uestlove, and the rest of The Roots Crew recruit the Money Making Jam Boys, (STS [click for interview], Dice Raw, P.O.R.N. Truck North), John Legend, West Coast lyricist Blu, Peedi Crakk, and Phonte all for their current jam session.
From there, the band known for backing up every superstar in Hip-Hop gives people a lesson on quality material with incredible pieces of music such as ‘Dear God 2.0,’ [click to watch video]‘The Day’ (feat. Blu, Phonte, and Patty Crash), ‘Radio Daze’ (feat. Blu, P.O.R.N. and Dice Raw), ‘Web 20/20’ (feat. Peddi Crakk and Truck North) and ‘Now Or Never’ (Phonte and Dice Raw).
John Legend joins the cast on ‘The Fire’ where his hook fuels lines by Black Thought like:
“I never show signs of a fatigue, or turn tired/cause I’m the definition of tragedy turned triumph/it’s David and Goliath/I made it through the eye of the storm/feeling tore/like they fed me to the lions/before my time start to wind down like the Mayans/I show them how I got the grind down like a science.”
They continue to get over with the added assistance of ‘Doin It Again,’ ‘Walk Alone’ (feat. Truck North, P.O.R.N., and Dice Raw), and quick tribute to J Dilla with ‘DillaTUDE: (The Flight of Titus).’
With virtually no weak points from top to bottom, The Roots’ cohesiveness along with Black Thought’s raspy and straight-forward wordplay combine to make How I Got Over arguably the best record the Philly natives have churned out since dropping their debut, Organix back in 1993.
Over the years, the members of The Roots have been interchangeable, with certain individual leaving just for someone else to come in and pick up the slack. The only true constant(s) of the group have always been ?uestlove and Black Thought.
Even though the band is a obviously a team effort with everyone playing a key role, the roles of this particular drummer/bandleader and mouthpiece are ones that can never be replaced.
