I hate to vote against The Roots because I love them, but Resurrection is just a masterpiece of hip-hop. Common's flow and lyrics are just beautiful, and the jazzy feel of the album is engaging while still relaxing.
Great lines on the album too
"I went to school for fourteen years and my best teacher was experience" from "Book Of Life", for example.
And then there's "I Used To Love H.E.R." A fantastic use of metaphor, Common espousing his view on what he saw as the decline of "conscious" hip-hop and the rise of gangsta rap. Hip-hop is a woman, a beautiful, respectable woman who may not be perfect but was pretty damn close, "Original, pure, untampered, a down sister". Then we see her slow degradation, getting into the clubs, moving to the West Coast, until we see her "in the burbs looking rock and dressin' hippie/And on some dumb shit when she comes to the city/Talking about popping Glocks serving rocks and hittin' switches/Now she's a gangsta rolling with gangsta bitches/Always smoking blunts and getting drunk/Telling me sad stories, now she only fucks with the funk/Stressin' how hardcore and "real" she is"
Throughout the whole album, and especially on "I Used To Love H.E.R.", Common's words paint pictures in ways that few hip-hop artists are able to. The flow is incredible, nothing feels out of place, like a perfect stream of consciousness. Common is a raconteur that I just want to sit and listen to all day. _________________ Progressive Rock
Fuck me, this first round is brutal already. Things Fall Apart is probably my second or third favourite Roots record, arguably the best example of their strengths, and the Roots record which best manages to find some form of focused cohesion in the sprawl of their talents. That said, The Roots are far from my favourite hip-hop group. I love Black Thought, and I regularly love their beats, but all too often I just feel like it's too grown-up for me. It's very sensible, if angry and frustrated, and I know some people (i.e. bawps 😉 ) love the whole live band thing, whereas I'm quite partial to a good, old fashioned, dusty-ass sample (unless, of course, you're DJ Quik on Rhythm-al-ism, and you're not really making hip-hop at all, but rather just old-school funk). Recreating the classic hip-hop sound with "real" instruments is something that I feel definitely enhances a live show, but doesn't necessarily enhance recordings. But really I don't have a reason why I just don't massively dig The Roots all the time, they just bore me quite often (sorry tekin). Also, the hook to 'The Spark' is fucking horrible. But Dilla's beat on 'Dynamite' is amazing, so they cancel each other out. Anyway, Things Fall Apart is one of their best albums (I prefer Illadelph Halflife, and possibly Undun), and it does deserve to go far. Black Thought's at his best at ('Double Trouble', anybody?), and the record bumps from beginning to end.
But I prefer Common's Resurrection. Funny thing is, both these artists are probably a little too sensible a little too often for my liking, and Common is often boring, predictable, preachy, out-of-touch, etc., but on Resurrection he got it just right. Those light, jazzy No I.D. beats, with Common figuring out how to become a man right before you, all on wax. I know I compared Below the Heavens with Illmatic in the other thread, but this is a more fitting father to Blu's debut, full of worries about life and hip-hop and how to be a man. Easily Common's best record, and it gets my vote here. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Things Fall Apart is probably my second or third favourite Roots record
What's your first? I've never heard Illadelph Halflife, but out of the rest of their discography I think How I Got Over is actually my favourite by them, it really grew on me. Things Fall Apart follows shortly though.
It also gets my vote here. Resurrection is one of my least favourite hip-hop 'classics'.. just not my thing. After the 3rd or 4th track, I get really bored. _________________ Doubles & Conch
Anyway, Things Fall Apart is one of their best albums (I prefer Illadelph Halflife, and possibly Undun), and it does deserve to go far. Black Thought's at his best at ('Double Trouble', anybody?), and the record bumps from beginning to end.
So yeah, it probably goes:
1. Illadelph Halflife
=2. Undun
=2. Things Fall Apart
=4. Organix
=4. How I Got Over
...then everything else somewhere underneath that. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
Goddamn. Another really tough draw for one of my noms.
It's been a long time since I've last listened to Resurrection. I really forgot just how excellent Common's flow is here.
It's really interesting to see these two albums pitted against each other in round one. As Skinny pointed out, both are defined by their jazzy sensibilities.
Things Fall Apart was my entry point into the Roots. I was in my freshman year of college with very little knowledge of hip hop beyond the major artists like the Beastie Boys who were able to secure loads of MTV airplay. My roommate opened me up to turntablism, The Roots, Kool Keith, MF Doom, and loads more. Things Fall Apart was love at first listen, transporting me to a jazz lounge at which mcs flowed through socially conscious rhymes. At 68 minutes, I could see many complaining about it running a bit long, but thankfully tracks like "You Got Me" and "Don't See Us"really strengthen the tail end of the record.
This should be a close match, but I believe Things Fall Apart to be the more musically interesting record. _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
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