The Illadelph crew that delivered classics like “What They Do” and “You Got Me” released an album that continues to push the boundaries sonically and lyrically. Black Thought is the most underrated emcee ever. His skill with Questlove’s construction and the infamous Roots band has never, in my opinion, failed to deliver a classic. While many Hip-Hop heads make ridiculous statements like, The Roots are mainstream, the band just continues to produce at a consistently high level. As a Hip-Hop fan, it’s nice to be able to grow with my music. I would look like a fool trying to listen to many of today’s emcees. I’m not saying they are bad; they just fail to talk about anything worthy of discussion. If my music is going to be empty, I want the lyrics to at least entertain me.
Any person who has been a long-time listener realizes that the title has been used in previous Roots songs and is also an allusion to Mahalia Jackson.
The album is typical in its varied sound and from all of the songs I’ve heard it is as close to a live Roots performance than any other album except Organix. I still have Organix by the way. The latest drop from the album is The Fire featuring John Legend, which was used in the Winter Olympics. Instead of continuing to write, click play on the video to listen. I’d like to request that if you have never bought a Roots album, this could be a great intro to the group. Visit http://www.okayplayer.com/ to keep up with the Roots and great music in general. “Before my time start to wind down like a Mayan.” Classic Hip-Hop
