REVIEW: The Roots, Do You Want More?!!!??! (DGC)

- Jorge Velez

By now you've probably heard of The Roots, Philadelphia's (and,to some, God's) latest gift to hip hop. They've been doing their collective thing for loyal area fans since roughly 1990, acquiring a rep for their live shows that amazes anyone used to the stale DAT-backed stage performances of most popular rappers. It is just this "collective thing" which places The Roots above and far, far beyond much of recent hip hop. The core of The Roots is comprised of Malik B, Black Thought and B.R.O.T.H.E.R.?, assisted by a whole mess of collaborators on the instrumental tip: everyone from saxman Steve Coleman (of Five Elements fame) to Cassandra Wilson and the outrageous Rahzel the Godfather of Noyze on various human beatbox vocal effects. All instrumentation is live (i.e. no sampling or turntables), which helps make Do You Want More?!!!??! an often mindblowing listening experience. All the grooves are "live", all sound effects are produced by non-electronic means. Once the listener catches on to this (and believe me, it took me a few listens to remind myself of the fact), the ride is a constant pleasure.

On tracks like "Mellow My Man", "Proceed" and "Datskat", Malik B and Black Thought flow abstractly over fly grooves rife with electric piano, horns, bass and drums. The rhyming is as accomplished as the musicianship, both playing off each other in true jazz and freestyle improvisational style. This is just the direction hinted at in, say, A Tribe Called Quest's "Low End Theory": a fusion of jazz and hip hop into a complementary musical entity. Whether it's picked up and approached as skillfully as The Roots have done on this debut (U.S.) album ( an earlier overseas-only album exists ) remains to be seen. Regardless, if ONE hip hop purchase is made in your fiscal year, make it this recording. You will be very happy as a result, I assure you.