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.