If dissent is “in,” The Roots have their finger on the body politic’s pulse. That said, their tenth album’s intense pessimism has bubbled for years. Just look at literary intertexts referenced in the Philly-based group’s recent album titles. Where The Tipping Point and Game Theory name-dropped concepts for forming consensus and resolving conflicts, Rising Down quotes William T. Vollman’s massive treatise on politically-motivated violence. This album’s a work of incredible synergy, connecting local, national and global crises over urgent beats propelled by mostly percussive and electronic instrumentation.
Black Thought and guests rap with captivating immediacy over ?uestlove’s stripped sounds. The title song features Styles P and Mos Def (spitting his best verse in much too long), while Thought warns of class-determined disaster: “you in trouble if you not an Onassis.” Later on “I Can’t Help It,” he laments having to sell discontent like another product. “I’m feeling like I’m making a sales pitch,” Thought complains, “I got too many options, it’s so many toxins.” We’ve been sold on The Roots for years now, and as their formula sheds toxins every outing, where better to get well-crafted, politicized hip hop?
A similar version of this review appears in the May 14 issue of The L Magazine, and can be read here.
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