More Of The Same From The Roots

The Roots have released 11 albums since 1993, and appear set to keep the pace despite their full-time gig as the best damned house band ever to grace late-night TV. Unfortunately, despite the hype and promise, quantity doesn’t equal quality when it comes to these releases. Their latest, How I Got Over, is neither exciting or underwhelming – it’s simply a well-made dose of somewhat impressive tracks, weighed down by real-world assessments that don’t toy much with optimism and hope. The surprises are few, the oh damn moments virtually nonexistent, and that’s a crying shame for an album that held such initial promise.

Remember those early statements about how How I Got Over would be a reaction to Obama’s election, an uplifting and celebratory record? After the bleakly dark one-two punch of Game Theory and Rising Down, we’d been looking forward to something with a little more buoyancy. Unfortunately, while hype promises are a dime a dozen in this industry, the follow-through is so often a let down.

How I Got Over doesn’t arrive as a celebration, but rather a gritty tale of realism and universal hardship. Opening with a chorus of female voices (Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian & Haley Dekle), A Peace of Light indicates a downtempo soul-jazz affair before giving way to the righteous Walk Alone, a dark avenue tale of walking the hard road with an infective, downtempo chorus. There’s little sunshine to be found here, but the groove is undeniable and demands repeat listens.

The delicately gripping Dear God 2.0 finds Black Thought at his most worldly morose, even without a BP call-out: “Who does the blind lead? Show me a sign, please / If everything is made in China, are we Chinese? And why do haters separate us like we Siamese / Technology turning the planet into zombies / Everybody all in everybody’s dirty laundry / Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis / terrorists, crime sprees, assaults and robberies.” Makes one want to buy a subscription to Adbusters magazine and listen only to NPR from here on out.

Radio Daze takes us further into the downtempo, stoned-on-a-summer-day soul groove, with a sound that would mesh seamlessly with Pete Philly & Perquisite on a mixtape. The same can be said for Now Or Never, built around Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson’s drum lead and muted keys, featuring strong showings from Phonte & Dice Raw. Even at the peak of flow, the smooth-jam essence of the record subdues any overt emotionality.

The title track How I Got Over begins with a deceptively bouncing beat, rising hope for an energy track before careening into an emotive groove not unlike Bobby Womack’s 110th Street. On verse two, Black Thought drops the downtrodden vision with “We on the corner / Too much drama / Livin’ with the police right behind ya / It’s always more than a slight reminder / We livin’ in a war zone like Rwanda.” The descriptives match the instrumentation and transmits a feeling of faith through hardship, of pushing on no matter what may come.

Love for the subtly-stated DillaTUDE interlude/tribute, which leads directly to lean highlight The Day, featuring Patty Crash’s breathy, delicate vocal hook and a straightforward narrative delivery of – you guessed it – rising above the tribulations of life and staying true to self.

The hooks are solid, the grooves undeniably arresting, but overall How I Got Oversuffers from the unrelenting sameness that most of their previous albums have been accused of. The songs are good, but there’s nothing outright memorable, nothing that stands out with particular fire that gives it solid replay potential. The Fire is a gripping track in its own right, but not even John Legend could bring in enough light to balance the darkness.

The instrumentation is too soft, too “forties and proud” for younger listeners to sink true teeth into. There’s no transcendental air on display, just more of the solid soul-jam tunes we’ve come to expect from The Roots. What’s missing here is the true spirit of creative adventure, and the guests seem to subdue themselves for the sake of not grating against the downtempo grain of the record. All the same, The Roots on their worst day (and it’s certainly not this) are far better than the vast majority of groups in the game, and ultimately that must be kept in mind when critiquing a group of living legends.

Bonus: Download a free bonus track called Our Generation, featuring John Legend.