Speaking of The Roots
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
Courtesy of Spine Magazine:http://spinemagazine.com/music/january/theroots/pleasedontgo.mp3I'm not mad at the stripped down sound but is that Black Thought singing the hook? If so, most definitely 
Comments
I heard that song with Project Pat and it was just embarassingly awful.
why? if its not black thought, does that make it ok?
this song's works well in my book
agreed. what's wrong with black thought on the hook? he sounds ok to me. thanks for the link.
Heartily concur +
Is not what first comes to mind when describing the Roots - a description they'll never be associated w/...
Wanna see the current version of the noodle dance so popular @ Dead and Phish shows of yesteryear? See the Roots...
totally agree with you.
on a smiliar note.. on your track the original soundtrack, why the hell didnt you sample the horns from the og? everytime i hear that track i get mad cus i didnt find it before you guys.
the horns are on there, I just chopped them up and replayed them as i did with the whole thing because of the odd meter/swing.
thats a family record right there... Peru represent.
Anyway I know its almost cliche to say this, but they DO have a SLAMMIN live show, and I highly recommend that everyone go check them when they play at a city near you(and unless you live in some redneck backwoods, they will). I dare the biggest haters to not have a good time at their show.
You tread into dangerous water my friend.
They HAD a SLAMMIN live show before they turned it into a cliche of itself. Then again, if you've never seen 'em, maybe it might come off fresh.
But believe me, the biggest haters will have something different to say, I'm sure.
The first couple of times I saw them I thought it was great, but their show is really formulaic. On one hand you always know what you are going to get, but that???s not always a good thing.
Speaking on behalf of the biggest haters: ten or so years ago when a Roots show was still novel, it was fun.
Now you couldn't drag me to one.
Name some rap groups that put on better live shows...
Rap's no longer a live performance medium... I pretty much quit going to rap shows entirely more than half a decade ago.
So if you havent been to any rap show in over six years, let alone a Roots show, with what basis can you say that a Roots performance is no longer fun or "novel"?
It ceased being fun in the late nineties. Matter of fact, it ceased being fun after one or two shows, and I can only imagine that it's gotten worse as they've slid further into corniness and Quest's bitterness and delusions have further inflated.
You seem to be suffering from a basic misconception, so let me clarify: I don't need to personally experience something to hate on it.
I read a passage where after the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors show, Quest was feeling ecstatic b/c he firmly believed that the performance served as their debut to the hip-hop world @ large and Tariq/Black Thought (in particular) would now be considered one of the most fierce MCs out there operating in the game currently owing to his Big Daddy Kane impersonation... Maybe to the Okayplayer patrons who proudly adorn themselves w/ the logo'd merchandise from the site, but Thought is still the equivalent of a sleeping pill on the mic...
They still come off as too studied w/ very little to no spontaneity and/or groove - the live show may feel improvised, but it's strictly by the numbers/connect-the-dots... Having 50,000 records and being a dutiful and meticulous student of hip-hop doesn't ensure that your final results will resemble the quality and personality of those you genuflect @ the altar of...
i agree completely. i saw that performance and was shocked at how patently unfunky the band was... they sounded incredibly rushed and just downright blah. the mcing including common was completely winded and i couldnt make out a single word.. then kane came out and mopped the floor with everybody ...
Why do all of his favorite rhymes involve either announcing that he is five-foot-eight (not really something to brag about) or torturing some word that ends with the syllable "-ion" so that it rhymes with "jawn" ("questiawn", "introductiawn", "nubiawn")?
Artist who currently put on, or in their prime put on, a better live show than the Roots:
M.O.P
Gangstarr
EPMD (Dj Scratch=QuestloveX1000)
Eminem
KRS-One/BDP
Outkast
Jungle Brothers
De La Soul
Ghostface
Fugees
Tribe Called Quest
Run DMC (the greatest show on earth)
Biig Daddy Kane (tied for greatest show on earth)
Public Enemy (the second greatest)
Beastie Boys
Special Ed
Poor Righteous Teachers (the dude Wise Intelligent has breath control like a muhfucker)
LL Cool J (even though his current show is like a night at Chippendales, his target audience seems very pleased)
Ultramag
The Arsonists (laugh, but they killed it live, with no 30 minute bass solos)
Jurrasic Five (see above)
Chubb Rock (Hot Dog, etc. had alot to do with that)
Puffy
Korn-ye West
Devin tha Dude
3rd Bass (Daddy Rich ohmyholygod)
Busta Rhymes (so much energy+so many hits)
Redman
Snoop
shit, I could go on, you know?
And ya know what? they don't have to drag out some dog-and-pony "hip-hop revue for crunchy granola college turds and their headwrap equivalents" either. They do it with great mic presence and great dj'ing, and most of them understood that 40 exciting minutes beats the fuck outta some jam-bandesque As a great man once said, "play your own damn shit in your live show".
Plus, even if they are among the better live acts, well, fine....let's call it what it is then, a fucking Roots hip-hop travelling revue or something. Best thing that ever happened to that group was Malik B, and he's off somewhere gurping hard polishing his handgun.
A test: name five truly classic or compelling Roots songs.
Another test: hit me with even one CLASSIC Black Thought rhyme. I mean Beats to the Rhyme classic, or Skypager classic, or Appetite For Destruction classic. You dig?
The one where he says that he's five-foot-eight!
YES! Rakim is shaking in his boots over that one. It has it all, controversy, flow, intelligence, humor. He's just sooooo deep? Why? Because he says he's deep in his rhymes. Ya know?