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The Roots - Things *do* Fall Apart

© Steve Juon

Well, Super Tuesday 2 is coming, and The Roots are blowing up. Now that "You Got Me" has hit the top ten, it's time to see whether the album as a whole will be making the kind of impact that could see The Roots being underground rap's STRONGEST representative in the commercial arena.

I don't know if Black Thought has gotten that much stronger or Malik B that much weaker, but he DEFINITELY comes off sounding like a third wheel. His diction is often muddy, his voice seems to have lost that "rough edge" it had on the last two albums (you'd almost swear he was going through puberty in reverse) and his lyrics lack spark. On songs like "100% Dundee" where he is paired directly opposite Thought, this couldn't be more obvious. On other Roots albums he held it down with a kind of hardcore steez, but this time, it's all about Thought.

Another thing to note - what is the next single gonna be? I mean there is not another "You Got Me" on the whole album. This is not a BAD thing per se because there are plenty of fresh HIP-HOP songs, but I don't see anything that could pull in the outside listeners the way the first jammie did. In fact, I predict a lot of returned copies of the album by the "alternative rap" heads who normally buy shit like Korn, Brittney Spears, and Puff Daddy. That groove they are looking for in the single, they won't find on the album. It's somewhat misleading I think.

And you know, the grooves of this album are a little confusing - even to a hardcore hip-hop head or a Roots fan. The Roots display some of their best songs ever within: "The Next Movement" is musical and lyrical genius, "Double Trouble" is an inspired homage to the mid-80's Run-D.M.C school of rhyme, "Without a Doubt" RIPS up a remake of a Schoolly D beat, and "Don't See Us" has a hardcore edge that you could shave your face with. But how do you explain the positively UNINSPIRED sound of songs like "Step Into the Relm", "The Spark", and "Table of Contents"? They just don't seem to pack any punch.

Some songs have surprised me on the third or fourth listen. I really like the bonus track "Act Fore", I've been picked up by "Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New" and Beans comes off a LOT better on "Adrenaline" than on anything he's done with Jay-Z. Still, given the pre-release hype and the expectations I *personally* have of a Roots record, it's just not quite all of that and a bag of 3-D Doritos. If you're a hardcore hip-hop fan or a big

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