The Roots - "Things Fall Apart"

The Roots released their fourth studio album, “Things Fall Apart”, on February 23, 1999 on MCA

Records. The album was recorded at the famed recording studio the Electric Lady. The album was

produced by members of the Soulaquarians and is consider some the group’s best work in terms of

recognition and accolades received. The Roots even won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for their song, “You Got Me,” which featured Erykah Badu and Eve. The album features the hard and thought provoking lyrics of emcees, Black Thought, Malik B and Dice Raw and they are accompanied by many other Philadelphia based artists as well as Mos Def and Common. The vibes are handled primarily by The Roots band.

Review with Mike T. (@mike_t_bvnm)

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Chris: Mike, I’m interested in why you wanted to review this Roots album in particular. This is album I had obsession with for a while. This album actually has 5 different album covers. There is the one that everyone is most familiar with, which is the Black couple running from the police, but there is actually 4 others that are much harder to come by. When I was in the first issue, rare issue CD game, copping all 5 versions of “Things Fall Apart” was one of my most coveted grails. Unfortunately, I only own 2 versions and I’ll be honest, while thinking about this review I checked Discogs and EBay to see if anyone had one of the other versions listed. I had to remind myself that I’m no longer in that game haha. Ok, time to get back on track, what was it about “Things Fall Apart”?

Mike T.: It was from one day talking about possibly doing another review, and you were listing off groups/artists we could do. Then you mentioned the The Roots. It clicked because immediately I thought of “Dynamite!” from someone at an old job playing it over the speaker when I would open the restaurant back in the day. And being that I don’t know that much older Hip Hop, I thought this would be a good one because I had never listened to the album outside of that song. I didn’t know that this had other album art covers. When you mentioned that I had to google it because I wanted to see what other covers that were done for this album. Each one is very bold. Bold in the sense that looking at each of these they are speaking loudly about history in the world. From riots in the 1960’s to a starving child in the 1990’s. When looking up the album art I read a little about each photo. Each photo was selected to portray a story of violation of  human rights. So this was interesting to learn about. I’m glad you mentioned the different album arts, because I would have just figured the one with the two women running would have been the only one.

Chris: I’ve heard that “Act Too” (The Love of My Life) is supposed to be a continuation of Common’s “I Used to Love H.E.R.” who is also featured on the track. Common relates Hip Hop music to a woman on “I Used to Love H.E.R.” and he continues that metaphor on “Act Too”. Without thinking about it too too much, I feel like this act of rapping or commenting on the state Hip Hop or the rapper’s love for Hip Hop music is something that is pretty unique to Hip Hop. You don’t hear as many Soul singers singing about Soul music or Rockers singing about Rock music or more specifically the current state of Rock music. There are probably a few we can think of but I’d say it’s probably most prevalent in Hip Hop music. Would you agree with me? Also, what did you think of these two tracks? Granted, this is a review of “Things Fall Apart” but many Hip Hop heads I’ve met throughout my life consider “I Used to Love H.E.R.” as one of their favorite tracks of all time and because of that, I think that it’s appropriate to ask the question since “Act Too” is its continuation.

Mike T.: Definitely not something that is very common I feel. Especially being one that listens to more Metal music. It’s not something you particularly hear in songs. If they do touch on the music industry It's more so the life of touring, and being on the road. You’ll hear songs about what the life is like in that manner, so I would agree that this is something more of a Hip Hop thing. This was an interesting listen. It took me a couple listens of both tracks because the dynamic of the songs are both really cool. Being a continuation track without knowing I was kind of expecting the same beat for both, because you’ll have tracks that are continuation tracks and it’s the same beat, or it takes the foundation of the beat and changes only slightly. So it was cool to see the two different builds of these songs. “Act Too” is super to the Roots vibe of that very Jazz/Soul/Funk vibe. I can’t say I like one more than the other though. I love the musicality of “Act Too”, but the lyricism in “I used to Love H.E.R.” has this very story telling vibe that I really enjoy. Common paints a great visual picture of a physical form for Hip Hop. It’s just hard for me to compare the two, but all in all I enjoyed listening to both I went and played them back to back a couple times to really see how the both tell their own story for each one.

Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.

The Roots featuring Common – “Act Too (Love of my Life)”

Chris: A common topic discussed amongst Hip Hop heads is “Who are your Top 5 Emcee?”. A lot of times those discussions devolve into a conversation about who is the greatest. While he’s not in my personal Top 5, it’s hard to argue that he’s not one of the greats. A few years ago, he had this freestyle on Funk Flex that went viral and it reminded all of us not sleep on Black Thought. What do you think of Black Thought on this album and what track do you think best exemplifies is lyrical dexterity?

Mike T.:  You know for me it’s “Dynamite!” because of the track as a whole. It has such a good walking bass line throughout the track with that Blues guitar. The back and forth between Black Thought, and Elo. But what I really enjoy is the fact that both Emcees have such a diverse lyrical ability. They use very little profanity which I feel is very heavily used in the Hip Hop world. But it is not used much outside of a few vulgar words here and there. Black thought right off the bat touches on that rapping is just basic instinct for him. Reps Philly hard, letting people know his crew and himself are going to tell it like it is. Plus it’s just a fun track all around. Has a great hook that you can’t help but turn up and sing along.

Chris: I’m glad that you mentioned how Black Thought, and really the whole Roots crew, reps Philadelphia. There are also many other Philly artists on this album, including Jazzy Jeff, Beanie Sigel, Eve and even Ladybug Mecca, who I believe is originally from Philadelphia. For me, it’s “100% Dundee”. I love that song. Black Thought and Malik B. both kill that song. It’s a great song to listen to with your volume turned all the way up.

The Roots – “Dynamite!”

The Roots – “100% Dundee”

Chris: The production on this album was guided by the Soulaquarians and Scott Storch, who I’m not sure if he was still an official member of The Roots at this time or not. During the time that this album was recorded, The Soulaquarians also produced D’Angelo’s “Voodoo”, Erykah Badu’s “Mama’s Gun” and Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate”. I don’t really like the term Neo-Soul but that’s what we called it at the time. All four of these projects are considered Neo-Soul classics or standards. Obviously, a lot of what The Roots do is considered live or at least with live instruments, as opposed to sampling. What did you think of the sound of “Things Fall Apart”? In comparison to some of the other music you listen to, how do rate The Roots as a band? Did any tracks in particular stand out for their musicality?

Mike T.: This is probably my favorite thing about this album is the live band feel it has. You get a great sense of this speakeasy Jazz/Blues group. Then bam this well thought out melodic raps that just fit. I honestly feel like if this was just an instrumental album it would be a great Jazz album. The bass is such a heavy driver of why the vibe of this album is so great. It’s not filled with just generic bass. You listen and hear walking bass lines like you would see from a live band. Not something just generated from a MPC. I think incorporating the live band gives it more depth. I’ve been to a couple local Hip Hop shows, and one thing I dislike about live Hip Hop is the fact that some of these artists will just rap along to their song. So if they miss anything the track has it covered. Rather than rapping to an instrumental track. So I feel like The Roots adding the live instruments/band to their music really shows the level of artist they are. There’s no they’re just a studio artist. This shows pride in their musicianship, in my opinion.

Chris: I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Roots live a couple of times. To me, they are kind of like The Band or the Allman Brothers in that hearing them live is quite a different experience than hearing them on record. I read that one of the reasons that Scott Storch left the group is because he didn’t really enjoy the touring aspect. I feel like that’s probably why they took the gig with Jimmy Fallon, they just love playing music.

Chris: What were some of your favorite songs?

Mike T. : Well you know from last question “Dynamite!” is on there. Then I really liked “Step into the Realm”. It’s one of the shorter tracks but something I liked about the track if you listen close to Malik B’s voice it has kind of a digital feel to it which I thought was a cool touch. “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New” is another one for that musical aspect of the track. This has that Blues guitar with the subtle bass line in the background. Mixed with the drums I loved the vibe of this track. Musically this album has been one of my favorites to listen to just because the musicianship is so good. I have a special love for Jazz even though I listen to heavier music. Growing up I played saxophone, and was involved in Jazz throughout my years in school. So loved just listening to this album in the car and just vibing out.

Chris: “Dynamite!” is a J Dilla produced track. I love the guitar sample. I’m not familiar with it but it kind of reminds me of like Grant Green or like Wes Montgomery maybe. I also liked “Ain’t Say Nothin’ New” and “Double Trouble” with Mos Def. I like those kind of throwback, tag team rhyme schemes, it reminds me a lot of the Hip Hop that was introduced to me when I was really young.

The Roots – “Ain’t Say Nothin’ New”

Chris: “You Got Me” was originally recorded with Jill Scott, who was not well-known outside of Philadelphia at the time, but MCA Records insisted the re-recorded the song with a name. In comes Erykah Badu and an iconic music video and you’ve got yourself a Grammy. I wanted to bring this track up because it, in my opinion, it’s what brought The Roots into mainstream consciousness but also to show you this really great performance of “You Got Me” from Dave Chappelle’s Block Party that features both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

Mike T. : So after seeing the live video from Block Party. I am going to say I think the MCA made a mistake. The live version is so good. Both Jill Scott and Erykah Badu together give it that extra layer that just makes it pop even more. Jill got these bold soul aspects to her that just made it for me. Along with the live band. Like was saying in the previous question. The one thing I have that I do not like about live Hip Hop is that artists just rap along to themselves on their own tracks. But this. Having the band actually apart of the group shows that level of musicianship for the group and the talents of the Emcees not have just a generic backtrack playing. And watching that live video really shows that.

The Roots feat. Jill Scott and Erykah Badu – “You Got Me” (Live on Dave Chappelle’s Block Party)

Chris: So just to give you some perspective, “Things Fall Apart” was released the same year as the “The Slim Shady LP.” Both we’re actually nominated for Grammys and “The Slim Shady LP” ended up winning it. The difference between the two albums is so stark but both are equally great, in my opinion. Do you have any final thoughts on “Things Fall Apart”?

Mike T.: I think those are two really hard albums to compare. I don’t think many artists stood a chance that year going against Slim though. That album itself just resonated with people. I think this album is a more fun album to listen to though. I like both albums though for their own reasons. “Things Fall Apart” has been one of my favorite listens out of the reviews we’ve done. I appreciated the lyricism that was highlighted in this album. Like I mentioned before the diverse vocabulary of the emcees on the album really shines. It’s not often that you listen to a Hip Hop/Rap album, and there’s very little vulgarity. This to me showed that each Emcee had way more thought out lyrics than just saying “fuck” and “shit” every other word. All in all this album was fun to listen to, and hard not to bob the head and sing along to. This is what makes doing these reviews fun. It shows me music I don’t know much about, and introduces me to something I enjoy jamming out to. And this was definitely one of those albums. It’s going to make its way into the rotation more.

Chris: The album is well put together. I had read that they had record over a 100 songs and narrowed it down to these 14 and that is the way that it feels. There really isn’t any fillers on this album. If you had heard The Roots’ earlier work, they were committed to that Underground Hip Hop, Jazz band vibe and “Things Fall Apart” was a little bit a step away from that, which is why I think they included the dialogue between Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes from “Mo’ Better Blues.” “Things Fall Apart” was harder but was also more radio friendly. I think I actually like this album even more than I did before. I do prefer their earlier projects but “Things Fall Apart” definitely held up.