The Roots return at long last, recognizability at an all-time high as they sit in as the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson took his time tweaking this one in the lab, but anybody expecting any crazy sonic departures will be disappointed. Instead, we get another solid, front-to-back Album, with a capital A, from one of the most reliable outfits in hip-hop. Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter trades rhymes with the usual plethora of guest MCs about life's tribulations and triumphs. The loose lyrical theme seems to be his (and the group's) coming to terms with getting older and staying hungry as they do so. Meanwhile, the ever-dependable Roots crew lays down piano-heavy grooves with nods to various genres, with help from Monsters of Folk/My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Joanna Newsom, and John Legend, among others.
This is a polished effort, and while it lacks the unpredictable stylistic variations of their last couple releases, it trades it for consistency. The only real misstep is "The Fire", with Thought softening his rough edge to deliver some platitudes about perseverance over a vanilla piano riff and chorus. Overall, the LP gives adult contempo-rap a good name, though we hope one of hip-hop's most innovative groups is not finished experimenting.
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