Things Fall Apart

About

In December 2017, after close to 30 years as frontman for The Root, Philadelphia MC Black Thought went viral. As a guest on Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 radio show, Thought was recorded eviscerating the instrumental for Mobb Deep’s “The Learning (Burn)” for a solid 10 minute. The clip was reposted endlessly via social, allowing a new generation to tip their caps to the man they knew only as the vocalist of Jimmy Fallon’s house band while longtime Roots fans relished the opportunity to spout “I TRIED TO TELL Y'ALL” onto their timeline. Since their very inception, however—and more prominently since their critically acclaimed third album, <i>Illadelph Halflife</i>—the band itself has existed in a similar space, lauded as kings to a dedicated fanbase and respected, if not briefly adored, by those engaging in a touristic capacity. But by the time the band’s fourth album, <i>Things Fall Apart</i>, dropped, The Roots were hardly the scrappy outsiders that caught even dedicated hip-hop heads by surprise with <i>Illadelph Halflife</i>. If that album’s coffee-shop-smooth Raphael Saadiq-featuring “What They Do”—and its hilarious “Big Willie”-lifestyle-parodying video—brought the group a new level of attention, <i>Things Fall Apart</i> was their chance to capitalize on it. And they would, miraculously, without compromising the traditionalist hip-hop and jazz influence that had previously defined their sound. <i>Things Fall Apart</i> was grittier by design. Drummer and producer Questlove has gone on record about the influence beatmakers like J Dilla (producer of “Dynamite!”) had on him to this end. The first half of “Table of Content, Pt. 1 & 2” is built on a breakbeat with severely distorted drum hit, while “100% Dundee” features a shimmering piano riff layered over actual beatboxing. (This iteration of the band featured <i>two</i> beatboxer, Rahzel and Scratch.) The instrumental for “Without a Doubt” is damn near a note-for-note remake of the one Philly gangsta-rap godfather Schoolly D rapped over on 1986's minimalist anthem “Saturday Night.” But the groove is also ever-present. “The Next Movement” is steadied by one of Leonard “Hub” Hubbard's funkier bassline, and though its chorus melody is the clear earworm, what is lead single “You Got Me” without its sentimental string arrangement? The song, produced by one-time band member Scott Storch, its chorus authored by then-unknown Jill Scott and performed by Erykah Badu, brought the group visibility they'd never known, thanks in no small part to another groundbreaking music video and some unique musical flourishe, including a drum 'n' bass outro. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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