Product Description
To call it “long-awaited” or “eagerly anticipated” would be the understatement of the year – as hip-hop’s most daring pioneers the Roots release their 9th studio album (and third for Def Jam Recordings) on June 22nd, HOW I GOT OVER. The album, which takes its name from Clara Ward’s gospel classic (made popular by Mahalia Jackson), is the Roots’ first new release since joining Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for a full time gig as the show’s house band. Grammy Award… More >>
jim
July 4, 2010 at 12:19 am
The introductory interlude for the fantastic Roots album, All Things Fall Apart, has a conversation taken from the movie Mo’Better Blues. In it, Denzel Washington’s character asks why are the audiences for their jazz performances mostly composed of folks of other races, instead of their own. He then goes on to speculate that black folk do a poor job of supporting their own culture, etc. Wesley Snipes’ character sharply corrects him, saying that he insists on playing “grandiose” stuff, that their core audience isn’t interested in. “If you play —t that they like, people will come. It’s as simple as that.”
The irony. The Roots, starting with their Phrenology album and continuing to this one, have decided that Washington AND Snipes are correct; play GRANDIOSE stuff that a DIFFERENT audience will like. The irony continues, because obviously The Roots were trying to tell us that with the title of the prior album, All Things Fall Apart. They were saying, in essence, enjoy this last hip hop oriented album, cause after this, we will just sprinkle in the hip hop – all good things come to an end, basically.
Many black performers are accused of “selling out” when they attempt to broaden their audience, making music that will appease their core audience, while doing things differently enough to also gain mass (read: white) appeal. For the last 5 albums, The Roots have been clear that they’re not selling out at all; they want a NEW core audience. They don’t want to appeal to the folks that loved them from Organix, Do You Want More?!!!??!, Illadelph Halflife, and All Things Fall Apart. The Roots are no longer a hip hop band (unless they are backing fill-in-the-blank rapper on the Jimmy Fallon show), but a hipster band. Even if you can’t define hipster, you know what it is when you see it. How I Got Over continues their philosophy of moving away from making hip hop music (their album titles are MUCH MORE profound then the average, don’tcha think?).
MY REVIEW OF HOW I GOT OVER
Track 1. Ok
Track 2. Melancholy hipster bull droppings.
Track 3. Melancholy hipster bull droppings.
Track 4. Upbeat tempo hipster bull droppings.
Track 5. Upbeat tempo hipster bull droppings.
Track 6. Upbeat tempo hipster bull droppings.
Track 7. Good tribute to the great Dilla.
Track 8. As a single would be nice. Within the context of this album, more hipster bull droppings.
Track 9. Album filler
Track 10. 1 of the few good tracks.
Track 11. Seriously?
Track 12. Ok
Track 13. Ok
Track 14. Wow! Another hip-hop oriented track!
The Roots decided a long time ago that they were no longer interested in their original fans. This album should help those fans finally realize that.
Rating: 1 / 5
kinopku
July 4, 2010 at 1:59 am
im not going to go as far as some others and call this a 1 star album, but if i could give it 1.5 stars, i would. some of the songs have a nice sound to my ears. however, the majority of the singing is soulless, the guest rappers are not that good, and blackthought has regressed as an emcee. somewhere after the tipping point, blackthought decided to no longer be a battle rapper, but a sociologist. now he is stuck in a middle ground where he does neither effectively (“technology turning the planet into zombies”? original…). so much singing in their rap, so much guitar in their live show, it is obvious that they want to go in a more rock and roll direction. im disappointed in the roots. i am happy that they have grown their music. i think the only way for hip hop to survive is for it to grow and for groups to incorporate more live instruments into their stage shows, but the roots are just moving away from hip-hop and into some sort of lite-jazz meets hip hop world. very formulaic beats and rhymes here. a very soft sound. to be honest, after rising down, i wasnt excited for any new roots album, and this mild offering proved me right. someone else pointed out this line in their review, but any time you hear blackthought spit lines like, “a lot of people counting on me sort of like a digit” you know the maximum effort is not being presented. i feel no need to get more specific than that.
Rating: 2 / 5
beat junkie
July 4, 2010 at 2:46 am
True professional music blended with too many features. Long term roots fans will not be surprised at the beautiful flow together tracks that make this album,but may be surprised at how the roots let these semi-wack up-and-comers invade them. Almost all of the truck north,blu and porn verses should be replaced by thought or Malik B.,who doesn’t appear on this album at all. Black thought seems to rap down next to these amateurs,and seems watered down (“lotta people countin on me kinda like a digit” who wrote that? lil wayne?) And has no stand out moments. If your looking at web 20/20 waiting for him to slaughter 3 minutes of beat(e.g. web), you’ll be relatively disappointed. The beat is all over the place and his verse is ehhh…
And can I be the first one to say that patty crashes singing on “The Day” is cringe worthy? Am I the only one who thinks that? Basically beautiful music interspersed by a lot of mediocre verses. Stand out tracks are subjective, but I like “doin it again”,”How I got Over”, “dear god” and “radio daze”(Minus Blus verse,he needs to get his flow tight.)
Rating: 3 / 5
R. Reid
July 4, 2010 at 3:31 am
It pains me to say this as a long-time fan of the the legendary Roots crew, but this album was by FAR the worst of their discography. I am still a fan, they have produced too much focused, intelligent, classic material over the years to abandon them. They have given so many talented singers and MC’s a wider voice by featuring them on Roots projects to stop listening to them. But this album sucked folks, it just plain sucked, and while it may be hip to be a Roots fan, it’s not hip to lie and say this is a five star Roots album, when it is a one star Roots album. I bought this album as I by every Roots album, sight unseen. I don’t need to see an album cover, or hear snippets of the track list because it’s the Roots, the closest thing there is to a sure thing in hip hop, right?
Wrong. This album has been pushed back repeatedly.(Warning sign No.1 The disc clocks in at a mere 43:00.(Warning sign No.2) Every song sounds the same as the one before it, which wouldn’t be so bad except that 1)The Roots NEVER do that, versatility of style is one of their hallmarks and 2)every song before was bad. The album doesn’t swing, or sing, or bang. It drones. Drones on and on and on. There are too many guests, if that’s what they wanted to do then this should be The Roots Presents: Volume 2. Worse yet, they just are not that good. Much of the lyrical content is uncharacteristically banal delivered by C-grade MC’s.Black Thought arguably the best MC in the game sounds uninspired, rapping by the numbers. He’s playing down to the level of the comp, leaving the best lines to be delivered by others.
I hate to critize the music, because the Roots are top-flight musicians, but the whole mood of this album is dour, and that’s saying alot for a band known for gritty, moody atmospheric music. Perhaps the Roots want off of Def Jam, and put out a dog guaranteed to bomb. Perhaps they are evolving, like Miles Davis’ electric period. I can’t believe that I am typing this, but the Drake album, “Thank Me Later” is better than this, and I HATE DRAKE!
One thing is for sure, and that’s the title, “How I Got Over”. If every album is a story, then this is the tale of how the Roots got over on their record company , but more troubling, how they got over on the fans.
Rating: 1 / 5
Jemell Cole
July 4, 2010 at 3:59 am
Things Fall Apart!
You will not be disappointed “buy” this purchase! This LP is AMAZING! I am on 30+ spins already!
Mel D. Cole
Rating: 5 / 5