Going Back To The Roots

The Roots have been making tons of good music recently, and we've been largely ignoring it. Time for that to change! Philly's legendary Roots crew, who of course serve as the house band on Late Night Jimmy Fallon, haven't stopped recording now that they've found a permanent gig. If anything, they're dropping more tunes than ever - their 11th studio album How I Got Over came out in June, earlier this year they released a free album of Roots renditions of J. Dilla beats called Dilla Joints, and they're set to release an album with John Legend called Wake Up in September. Busy bees, those kids.

My favorite track from How I Got Over reprises the verse that Black Thought lay down in a cypher with Eminem and Mos Def at the B.E.T. Hip Hop Awards (which we wrote about here). It features Legend on the hook nicely, and is classic high-tempo Roots rap. Another song that really hits my ears is a bit of a departure from The Roots' usual style, recontextualizing Monsters of Folk's "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)" to become "Dear God 2.0." It's laid back and completely dope.

The Roots - Doin' It Again (f. John Legend) (YSI) (filesavr)

The Roots - Dear God 2.0 (f. Monsters of Folk) (YSI) (filesavr)

I'll hold off from any tracks from Wake Up, but Dilla Joints is worth checking out for any beat lovers/Dilla fans out there. It's a very chill album that's almost 100% instrumental, but it really puts Dilla's beatmaking into perspective - these are beats you can listen to on repeat without getting bored. Completely in the moment and very accessibly complex. Love it. Check 'em out for a fresh take on some classics.

The Roots - Hot Shit (I'm Back!) (Dilla Instrumental) (YSI) (filesavr)