Classic Album Reivew: The Roots, "Do You Want More?!!!??!"

Throughout the years artists, critics, writers and musicians have drawn tons of comparisons between hip-hop and jazz, and no group has combined the two genres better than The Roots.

Since the group is so successful now and currently serves as Jimmy Fallon's house band on "Late Night," it's almost hard to remember that there was a time when mainstream success eluded the group.

The origins of the group began when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson) met and became friends at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts in the late '80s. As the next few years went by they began to do shows around Philadelphia and New York City with bassist Leonard "Hub" Hubbard and rapper Malik B, the Roots and eventually recorded a debut album, titled "Organix."

The band produced the album independently and originally sold it at shows in Europe. The group earned itself a very loyal following and as time went on, the album earned a great deal of buzz around the industry and led to the group finally getting some studio recognition.

After releasing "From the Ground Up" EP in 1994, the group went to work on their first official studio album, which showed off how truly skilled they were at combining elements of hip-hop, jazz and live instruments. Unlike some other artists, the group didn't use the combination as a commercial gimmick, instead they fuse the two together to great a new genre in itself and a sound that is truly intoxicating.

Their first true studio album "Do You Want More???" was released in January of 1995 and was extremely well received by both fans and critics. The album is long, clocking in at over 70 minutes, but in this case quantity equals quality. From top to bottom, every track is solid, especially "Lazy Afternoon," the title track "Do You Want More?!!!??!," "Distortion to Static," "? vs. Rahzel," and "Mellow My Man."

The thing that makes the album work so well is how the group takes a completely original approach to the hip-hop genre, with their jazzy instrumentals and socially conscious lyrics. One track in which this really shines through is on "Distortion to Static," which features a provocatively smooth beat and some of the best verses on the album.



Malik B is supremely confident on the track as he raps: "Yo, I'm every MC, it's all in me/That's the way it is, when ya gotta be/Indeed as I distort I proceed, I need / Gettin hotter than sacks of boom, in my room at the Ramada/Four tanks in your memory banks to fill up/I provide the static, with scratch to match, while you catch the vibe/Most can play high post, but yo that don't mean shit/Because my click'll make a motherfucker sick."

Black Thought has one of the truly unique flows and voices in the hip-hop industry and his work on this album is one reason why it holds up so well after all these years. On the title track "Do You Want More?!!!??!," Thought takes center stage, spitting some great lines over a truly amazing beat, which uses perfectly placed Scottish bagpipes mixed in with a hard drum from Questlove.



Thought opens the track with a hard sound that hooks you in and keeps you until the track ends. He raps ferociously as he spits: "Like I'm a medical doctor, watch the damage/I inflict properly, ain't nobody risin on top of me/I be droppin more plot in my mic monopoly/Got to be, got to be reality, Stevie Wonder see/Black Thought be me, I groove ba-by/Or I clue they say baby/Would you get with this? Not even maybe."

Although it isn't exactly a conventional track, I couldn’t write this without mentioning "? vs. Rahzel," which is my one of my personal favorites from the album. While it is mainly instrumentals and a beat and doesn't feature any verses, the track is a favorite of mine because it has two of my favorite hip-hop artists showing off their skills front and center. The track features Questlove banging out the drums while Rahzel mixes in his patented beat-boxing techniques, combining for a unique sound not found on many other hip-hop albums.



The track epitomizes The Roots' jazz influences, with Rahzel's beats and Questlove's drums forming an improvisational loop of just pure music and jamming. Another track that really shows off those influences as well is "Mellow My Man," which features heavy electric piano grooves and realistic lyrics.

With their offbeat delivery and live instrumental sound, The Toots literally were like no other group out there. The group was extremely musically talented, that was clear, but they also possessed a skill at linking the experimental nature jazz with the gritty life of the streets and hip-hop. Due to its jazzy influences, "Do You Want More?!!!??!" sometimes sounds more like an album bred from old-school hip-hop rather than contemporary rap.

The group lets the music breathe throughout the album, letting tracks build as they go one and creating a funkadelic hip-hop sound that is impossible to copycat. The album was a blueprint for combining hip-hop and jazz; it emphatically put The Roots on the map, and is definitely a classic.

Classic Album Review: The Roots, "Illadelph Halflife"

The latest entry in my weekly column at Refined Hype. This week: The Roots, and their classic second album, "Illadelph Halflife".

Typically most hip-hop groups don’t have a drummer. But The Roots are no typical rap group. The casual, or less informed hip-hop fan may think of The Roots as Jimmy Fallon’s house band. But while they they're technically right, The Roots have accomplished far more than being the most eclectic band on late night television.

Over the years The Roots have been one of the most creative and original groups in hip-hop. Led by rapper Black Thought and drummer ?uestlove, the group has carved their own niche in the industry. Since their debut album “Organix”, they have perfected the use of live instruments and found the perfect way to rap about socially relevant issues.

Their second album, “Illadelph Halflife” may be their most inventive and arguably their best. It's a masterful piece of work throughout, especially because it is fundamentally original; there is absolutely no large reliance on samples here. “Illadelph” is pure music at its best. The introduction to the album states that: ''when rap music began, most people thought it was a fad.” Using that as inspiration, the group moves forward from there and with each track, shows why that statement might be a bit off.

The Roots are such an interesting group and one reason is due to the various musical genres and influences they tackle on each track. “Illadelph Halflife” is littered with Miles Davis sounding jazz riffs and soulful melodies that resemble classic R&B.

On "No Alibi", ?uestlove makes his presence known with some fantastic drum beats, while Malik B dishes out one of the best verses on the entire album. He is able to describe the state of urban America when he raps: “Until I fulfill the term of my prophecy/my attitude is scarred by this inner-city urban/Iller dolo stress on my brain just like a turban/Who get grazed by the bullet?/Triggers,who's quick to pull it?

"Respond/React" is my personal favorite track from this album. The laid-back production, and jazzy instrumentation mixed with bugged-out rhymes combines to make a socially relevant, foot-tapping track.

The lyrics are intelligent and novelistic, with Black Thought rapping: “Hey yo, I'm just a lyricist, a chemist of the hemp/The beat pimp, the ill Philly resident/That's far from hesitant, corrupt like a President/Never benevolent but poetically prevalent.”

"UNIverse at War" is a great track, and it features a cameo from another socially conscious artist, Common. The beat follows the theme of the album, and is a laid back, instrument heavy production that showcases the MC’s.


The track works on so many different levels, from its philosophical lyrics to the slew of thoughtful, yet witty lines from Black Thought and Common Sense. Common finishes off the track as he paints a vivid picture and raps: “For peace we skate, crackers we roll or player hate/Call each other cuz cause of how we relate/I see way too many Cadillacs with dope man plates/Through the wind and blow-ups, is how we communicate/Harmonizing through beeper and reefer/The city got my peoples in a sleeper, talk is getting cheaper.”

In addition to Common there are a lot of guest spots on the album, including Raphael Saadiq (“What They Do"), Q-Tip (“The Universal Side”), David Murray ("Dave Vs. Us"), and D'Angelo (The Hypnotic), among others. Usually I think numerous guest spots can mess with the flow of an album, but each is used perfectly on their respective track.

For example, on the last track, “The Adventures in Wonderland”, the involvement of spoken word artist Ursula Rucker makes the track one of the albums most original and inventive. The track is a brutal rap poem performed by Rucker over a truly spooky beat.


The track details a woman's plight up from the ghettos to the top of a fool's-paradise prostitute's glory, only to crash down into poverty and the loss of respect from her family. She illustrates the raw, gritty truth of this “wonderland” when she says: “The picture grew clearer; I made the move to rear her/In a life wanting for nothing/So I got into this drug thing/Not doing, but dealing.”

The organic combination of thunderous live drums, instruments and rapper Black Thought's smooth rhyme patterns shows that the group has no equal in the industry. The Roots have an extensive body of work, but “Illadelph Halflife” is a distinct classic, the best example of their spontaneous and distinct sound.