Debut album for Philadelphia hip-hop group The Roots. Originally, it's a trio made up of Philadelphia boys Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Malik "Malik B." Basit and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, later became a live band also composed of instrumentalists Joshua Abrams and Leonard Hubbard (later joined officially to the band in 1994) on bass, and Scott Storch on keyboards. Guitarist Chuck Treece, who isn't part of the group, also works on the project.
The album was born during a tour in Europe and is distributed independently: musically, it's raw and decent effort, there's a good drums and the instrumentalists do a good job, while, lyrically, it says little, Black Thought engages in several battle raps and braggadocio songs, while Malik B is an honest sparring partner, in a secondary rapper role not unlike that of other groups on the East Coast. Nobody impresses here, several relaxed and a little generic jazz rap tracks come out: the album is too long at 63 minutes, with 7 skits on 17 songs, and a nearly 13 minute posse with AJ Shine, Bo-Watt, Lord Akil, Me, Myself And I, Mr. Manifest, Pazi Plant and Shorty No Mas. Thanks to Black Thought's fast, smooth and hardcore delivery, the album carves out some good tracks, however, overall, it's a forgettable and average record, with beats functional to rapping and rapping functional to rhythms depending on the moment. Everything is very minimal, starting from the cover: it's not a necessary or recommended listening, the fans of the group and some East Coast aesthete might find some interesting moments in it.
Highlights: "Pass the Popcorn", "The Anti-Circle", "Good Music", "Common Dust", "The Session (Longest Posse Cut in History 12:43)".
Rating: 6.7/10.
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