The Roots- How I Got Over (on indieshuffle.com)

One: When ‘How I Got Over’ came out in my country (I don’t live in Kazakhstan; by that I mean England), it barely made a ripple of crap hitting a shitstream. Two: When ‘How I Got Over’ came out in the States, it debuted 6 in the Billboard 200 and 3 in the Rap Albums charts. Three: ‘How I Got Over’ is The Roots’ ninth studio record. How has it taken 16 years and eight previous albums for The Roots to produce what has critically been received as their best?

This is an ambitious hip-hop album. Where The Roots have always pushed the boundaries in contrast to their peers- the band play their own instruments, and do so live, for example- they never strayed beyond hip-hop and soul collaborations, until now. Album opener ‘A Peace of Light’ features harmonies from the girls from indie band Dirty Projectors- an unexpected collaboration, especially for The Roots. Later on? Joanna Newsom. That’s right, a woman with giant harp.

All credit to The Roots then, that this album carries no sniff of pretension. ‘How I Got Over’ is more heartfelt, soulful and classy than any other Roots album, and less disparate. John Legend features on ‘Doin it Again’ for instance, a cover of his own ‘Again’, and ‘The Day’ uses a laidback guitar melody under rolling rhymes. The Roots’ quasi-political tracks are similarly chilled; like ‘Now or Never’, with its relaxed keys.

But, if you think this is The Roots gone soft, it isn’t. They still look like remaining one of the most imaginative, talented and intelligent hip-hop acts of the next ten years as much as they have the last. It’s just that with the self-assurance of a band that have been around for 16 years, it’s unsurprising that everything sounds perfectly in its groove. Lyrically interesting as we have come to expect (‘Dear God’ and ‘Web 20/20’), and spotted with introspection (‘Right On’), The Roots are doing what they always have and filling voids for the subtly, soul and genius that are often missed about major-label hip-hop, and from where considered musical statesmen like Jurassic 5, Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla left them. ‘How I Got Over’ is worthy of the mantle bestowed on albums ‘Things Fall Apart’ and ‘Game Theory’ that came before it. A great Roots record.

The Roots- How I Got Over