Rising Down

I've been reading stuff about The Roots for years but never actually heard their music till I saw their VH1 Soulstage concert. All I can say is WOW! This band is fantastic! I bought this CD after watching the concert and then actually saw them live in Worcester, Mass. a few weeks ago. What a show! Rising Down is a great CD. Great beats, great music, great lyrics. Keep up the great work.

It seemed like for me, this album just showed up one day. To be honest, I really didn't know this album was coming out during the summer (maybe with a little word of mouth), but it seemed like there was no kind of promotion prior to this album coming out. After it was released, I've started seeing promotion for it, including a few live performances from The Roots on TV (The band, along with Chrisette Michele performed on one show not too long ago).

Anyway, the Roots' second album on Def Jam is a pretty nice one. The production and the rhymes are still on point for the majority. I know I enjoyed "Rising Down" with Mos Def and Styles P. The track vibes pretty nicely, making it a huge standout. Another hot favorite of mine is the deep "I Can't Help It" featuring Malik B., Porn, Mercedes Martinez & Dice Raw. It's another track you can vibe to, something that the band is great for doing. Other tracks that are worth checking for are "Singing Man" featuring Porn, Truck North & Dice Raw, as well as "Rising Up" featuring Wale & Chrisette Michele.

The Roots missteps on such songs as "I Will Not Apologize" featuring Porn, Dice Raw, and Talib Kweli. For some reason, Kweli doesn't sound too well just doing hooks on other tracks (name a track where his guest appearance was only a hook. Maybe a Mos Def track, that's it if that.). Other tracks that weren't mentioned were not specifically bad tracks, but they were not standouts either.

Fans of The Roots should cop this album if not already. The album is kind of short, just like their recent Game Theory. Unfortunately, it doesn't slam like their album, or their others (my favorite is Illadelph Halflife). At the same time, this album gurantees definate satisfaction for any fan who is familiar with their music. This one I recommend. Peace.

Lyrics: A-
Production: B
Guest Appearances: B
Musical Vibes: A-

Top 5 Tracks:
1. I Can't Help It (featuring Malik B., Porn, Mercedes Martinez & Dice Raw)
2. Rising Down (featuring Mos Def & Styles P)
3. Rising Up (featuring Wale & Chrisette Michele)
4. Singing Man (featuring Porn, Truck North & Dice Raw)
5. The Show (featuring Common & Dice Raw)

Honorable Mention:
1. Criminal (featuring Truck North & Saigon)
2. Get Busy (featuring Dice Raw & Peedi Peedi)

it was ok.the beats are pretty good and so are the lyrics but its tight.

Awesome album by the Roots... expect nothing less. This album gets a 4/5 star because there are too many songs that are not songs like The Pow Wow and @15. Lots would disagree with me but its just a personal opinion.
I dig the socially/politically conscious hip hop the Roots is into. Some thought provoking rhymes and they sound dope!

if this album gets 5 stars, as many seem to think it does, then what does "things fall apart," or "illadelph halflife" get? 60 stars?
there is a lot of BAD music on this album. the best verse is by saigon. blackthought has continued his descent from vicious battle rapper to mediocre point-maker. malik b isnt coming with it the way he used to - at all. and the music is definitely not boom-bap rap - not that it has to be. i appreciate that the roots are going indifferent directions with their music, but i find the guitar/rock type edge their music has to it these days to be grating. it might just be my personal preference, and that i just prefer the jazzy roots, or even the neo-soul roots. but, aside from the 5 star reviews on amazon, everyone ive spoken to - lifetime rap fans, longtime roots fans - and even people who dont like rap except for the roots - nobody likes this album. except for "criminal" because of saigon's verse, and "i will not apologize" because of dice-raw's verse, ive deleted this album from my digital media library.