Music Reviews: The Roots Drop Thinking Man's Rising Down

The Roots' new album Rising Down is really strong. It's the tenth studio release from Philly's hip-hop band and their best since 2002's masterpiece Phrenology. Fifteen years deep, and MC Black Thought still deliver rhymes that rattle---and make you think. Co-group founder Questlove (the drummer, in case you didn't know) is steady and rhythmic as always, and there are plenty of guests who check in over the course of the disc. In direct response to critics who say the group has wandered from its musical center of gravity of late, Down is a more focused effort to say the least.

Take out the intros, outros and inbetweens; the album has ten real tracks to it, and that's enough. Rapper Mos Def kicks it off with a riff on the struggle of today's youth on title track "Rising Down." Over a howling funk beat, The Roots slice up everything from economics to global warming on the cut, setting the tone for the rest of the album. (Yes, rhyming about the earth's environmental issues can be cool too.) It is interesting to note that a non-group member has first say on the album; Def is just that good:

"Tonight at noon watch a bad moon rising
Identities in crisis and conflict diamonds
Blindin', staring at lights till they crying
Bone gristle poppin' from continuous grindin."

Lead single "Get Busy" follows. The video is hilarious, with the group hanging out in an office as they get down to "business." A party track, it lifts the mood a bit before Black Thought ups the ante with freestyle "75 Bars." While not quite up to the stream-of-consciousness riffs like "Thought at Work" off of Phrenology or "Boom!" off of Tipping Point, the message is Black Thought's gift for gab and flow is second to few rappers working today:

"My hustle is long, my muscle is strong
My man put the paper in the duffle I'm gone
Y'all still a light year from the level I'm on
Just a pawn stepping right into the head of the storm."

The next song, "Criminal" is probably my favorite track off the album so far. Falling halfway through the disc, it features a guest spot from up-and-coming rapper Saigon (of Entourage renown) over a guitar sample that would suit a Jack Johnson album just fine---that's how mellow it is. The subject matter is complex: young rappers from the "hood" trying to get along with rich suits from the "burbs" just to keep the music (and the money) spinning round and round.

Rappers Common and Talib Kweli make guest appearances on the second half of the album, while former group member Malik B. shows up on tracks "I Can't Help It" and "Lost Desire" (with Kweli). His opening lyrical riff on "Can't Help It" is so hard-hitting it sounds like it could've been ripped straight from an Illadelph Halflife B-Side. R&B singer Chrissette Michael lends her vocal cords to album closer "Rising Up", chastising today's radio stations for their repetitious playlists.

Civil unrest, the struggling economy, a misguided war in Iraq, global warming, distrust of the government and the collapsing music industry are just several of the many major themes tackled on the album. The Roots have never been an easy band to digest on record (in concert, it's a different story) and that song remains the same here.

Frequently unsettling, usually provocative, with a diverse sonic pallette as the backbone holding it all together, Rising Down shows the The Roots back in command of their abilities in a rare hip-hop career that's now ten albums deep.

Josh's Rising Down Grade: **** of five (4 stars out of 5)

-JAB