No Hip hop group has been as prolific as The Roots. Over the last 15 years, the band has produced a musical catalog that rivals the greats in any category of music. Their ability to evolve has kept the crew not only relevant but in the forefront of modern day music. Following the release of 2006’s classic LP, Game Theory, The Roots presents the moody, socially charged Rising Down.
The sound of Rising Down is edgy, serious and provocative. The disc’s title song features Mos Def, Black Thought and Styles P using the “slow flow” while expressing societal disappointment and hostility over a beat that bangs and drags. This particular combination of lyrics and sounds suggests the disc’s overall theme of anxious frustration. Rising Down is revolutionary theme music.
Impressively, the album features a significant array of vocal appearances. These vocalists do a great job sticking with the general energy and theme of the album while ?uestlove pulls off his best production effort to date. This effort creates an offering that is cohesive and fluid despite a number of moving parts and guest appearances. No other Roots album features the array of artists found on Rising Down. Whether it be Philly’s own Peedi Crack, new comer P.O.R.N., the soulful Truck North, Chrisett Michelle, Mercedez Martinez, The Roots’ staples Malik B and Dice Raw, Talib Kweli or underground emcee Saigon, the music is consistent and never evokes mixtape disparity.
More importantly, the wide array of appearances allows an aging Black Thought, noticeably exhausted from carrying the lion’s share of the vocals on The Roots’ previous eight albums, to limit his amount of lyrical material on each song. What results is one or two very solid or dope verses from Thought, complimented by a spirited performance from a guest appearance, all presided over by ?uestlove. Whereas Phrenology, The Tipping Point and even Game Theory are at times lyrically monotonous and lackluster, Rising Down is diverse and exciting. Also of note is Black Thought’s swapping of the more business-conscious alias “Riq Geez” for the aggressive and catalytic “Nat Burner”. His reclamation of this past identity further reflects the temperament of the album.
Outside the obvious assortment of vocal talent are a couple nuances that add to the “fullness” of Rising Down. “Get Busy” features scratching by the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff; “@ 15” is a rhyme from a then, 15-year old Black Thought, showing his prodigious rapping gift in a style similar to his idol, Kool G Rap. The closing track, “Rising Up”, is an up-tempo Go-Go mix, suitably featuring DC’s own Wale. These subtleties, coupled with the numerous guest appearances all controlled and arranged by ?uestlove, create a product that is remarkably diverse, yet astonishingly fluid. With that said, Rising Down is probably the band’s most challenging effort thus far. Not surprisingly, The Roots are up for the challenge.
