How I Got Over

Artist: The Roots
Label: Def Jam/Universal
Website: theroots.com

On this, their 9th studio album, The Roots have produced their most commercially viable and radio friendly work to date. If we were discussing pretty much any other Hip Hop outfit this direction would undoubtedly be to their detriment, but this is The Roots and unlike the majority of their contemporaries they possess the depth and class to pull it off. Only the staunchest fans will be able to find fault with How I Got Over, but considering The Roots’ recent work as Jimmy Fallon’s house band said fans were probably sufficiently alienated prior to this release so their opinion doesn’t count. Despite the pop leanings on show here there really is little else to find fault with, some songs may be have been presented in a sort of radio friendly cookie cutter style but these same songs feature impeccable performances from band members and guests alike.

After seeing them perform at Blues and Roots a few years back, a friend told me that The Roots set was the best live band performance he’d ever seen, each of the musicians involved contributed jaw dropping solo efforts as well as combining seamlessly to play a powerfully charged and deeply soulful set. Listening to this album its clear to see what he means, their high level of musicality is increasingly being backed up by the organic nature of their studio productions; all of these songs carry the essence of a recorded jam session, no one element is ostentatious enough to overwhelm the other but everything in the composition is clearly the product of finely honed skills and a collective understanding that can only stem from years of experience.

As you might expect Questlove’s drumming is incredibly tight throughout and Black Thought’s delivery is largely on point but it’s some of the guest performances that tie this album together. Most notably Blu, P.O.R.N and ex member Dice Raw all provide an excellent counterpoint to Black Thought on a number of tracks, even such an unlikely guest as Joanna Newsom manages to come through unscathed, adding an eerie chorus to 'Right On' as only she can. However the one failing of the album in this regard is John Legend’s contribution on 'The Fire' which manifests the most shamelessly pop oriented tune on the album and the weakest sounding track as a result.

That said, this minor discrepancy isn’t enough to detract from what is an extremely enjoyable and highly accessible album, in fact it’s very much to The Roots’ credit that they have contributed one of the very few consistently classy mainstream hip hop albums where so many others have failed.

James Farrell