Phrenology

Great rhythms and vibes, but some filler. Water must not be part of the final tracklist. Maybe cutting here and there would make it more solid.

What a ride, beautiful and long blend of hip hop, punk, soal and story

I'm almost positive I had this on CD back when it came out, but it got lost somewhere in the last 25 years. Anyway, I never gave it the attention it deserved back then. It was one of those albums that you bought for the 'hit', listened to the first couple songs, and never picked up again. Revisiting this album all these years later, I could go back and smack my former self for not giving this a fair shake, because it really is a great record. The first half especially is fire. The beats are amazing, the lyrics are great, the flow is on point... it's the whole package. It's tough for rap and hip-hop albums to really grab me, but this one did. I will say that that the first half is better than the second, but if the second half was it's own album it would still be a whole lot better than most of what came out around that time.

Somewhat conflicted on this one. I think The Roots are great - among the tops bringing a live band to hip hop and Black Thought is a quality rapper. They cover a lot of ground, pulling in sounds from genres that can lead to some songs being a bit poppier, rockier, experimental, jazzier. A conscious mind through much of it. It’s also a long album that’s hard to absorb in just a day. There were some parts that really got me and much of it just faded away but was still enjoyable in the moment. So that lands me at a 3 but I need to listen more to know

Some quite musical parts in the album but don’t think I’ll ever really get Hip shop / rap

9/10

Pretty unique hip hop album. Nice blend of R&B and rap with some jazz influence. I really enjoyed Questlove's drumming and the overall production. Some really weird songs as well and not so interesting ones but solid album overall

When this album came out it was my winter soundtrack, then it evolved into my spring soundtrack and found its full glory as the summer of 2003 album. The layers and imagery that are unleashed in this album are infinite in their greatness

The Roots have always teetered dangerously close to corny in my mind, but this album is like a missive from a time when they had a more austere project rather than a “brand.” It’s nice to listen to.

So so rap. Not the best not the worst. Some sparkling moments.

I'm not a fan of rap/R&B, but I've learned through the generator that there are exceptions. The instrumentals in this album are very good (interesting drum/guitar/bass parts), and any other sounds enhance the music. There was enough variety in the song structures and beats to keep me engaged, and the singing and rapping parts meshed well together. There's also a lot of groove and funk in the songs, which made them very listenable. I felt a similar way about OutKast.

Pretty good actually

Actually was a pretty good listen. Wasn’t sure what to expect.

A half-decent hip hop album! Glad I stuck around to the end for the Digital Hardcore-adjacent Thirsty!

really enjoyed this a lot. how the hell did that dweeb Jimmy Fallon get them for his house band?? 4/5.

I vibed with this album heavy.

I hate to say it, but I find the Roots to be... boring. Their music is good enough, but it just doesn't move past that for me. All I can say is that it makes semse they are the house band if the tonight show now. 3/5

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I think The Tipping Point is better than Phrenology. Tipping Point is an easy five so I'm leaving a five for this one in its place.

Excellent album!!!

My first reaction when I saw The Roots was basically, “That band from Jimmy Fallon’s show?” I legitimately had no idea they were putting out albums like this years before becoming his house band. Turns out I’ve been severely underestimating them, because this is a phenomenal East Coast rap album, and apparently it’s not even considered their best. I love how seamlessly the tracks flow into each other. It makes the whole thing feel like one continuous piece instead of a collection of songs, and having an actual band behind the rapping gives it a completely different sound from most hip-hop. “Water” really caught me off guard when it wandered into that spacey interlude. Very Pink Floyd-esque and not something I expected to hear in the middle of a hip hop album. “Pussy Galore” and “Rock You” were both awesome. Black Thought is a great rapper, and there’s enough funk, soul, rock, and weird experimental stuff mixed in that I never knew exactly where the album was headed. If this really isn’t one of their best albums, I’ve apparently got some catching up to do.

I was previously familiar with The Roots but did not really know any of their material. This is primarily a hip hop album but does contain other elements like soul, R&B, and jazz. The track The Seed (2.0) is a rock/rap crossover track and seems familiar, and it is my favorite track from the album. Break You Off is an R&B track and also seems familiar. I doubt I would come back to this one because I don't really care for hip hop, but I appreciated hearing it once since there's definitely more to it than just that.

This album is cool and full of good vibes. Listening to it felt energetic and groovy from start to finish. It captures exactly what early 2000s R&B and hip hop fusion was supposed to sound like, with live instrumentation and a real band energy that most acts at the time couldn’t match. The themes feel well chosen and thoughtful without ever becoming heavy handed. The production is one of the strongest parts. The Roots keep everything tight and organic while still sounding modern for its time. Questlove’s drumming drives the whole record, and the live band approach gives the songs a natural swing that samples alone rarely achieve. It sits comfortably between hip hop, soul and progressive black music of that era. Phrenology is an interesting and enjoyable listen that still holds up. It has personality, strong grooves and a clear sense of direction. One of the better Roots albums and a solid snapshot of where thoughtful mainstream leaning hip hop was heading in the early 2000s.

Never listen to this record all the way but when I do listen to songs on it, I love it. Very good record and I love The Seed (2.0).

I like the rots.

#69 This didn't feel like anything special, some good parts but it's too long, scattered, and bland. Sacrifice, Seed 2.0, and Break You Off are the only real highlights. 2.5 / 5

This album surprised me in a very good way. I did not know this band before - and now I'd like to listen to more of them.

Don’t know anything about them. Not very good rapping.nothing to distinctive about them. They shouldn’t quit their day job. Music not attractive or soothing on the ears. Not very good at all. Two stars.

Such a fun album. This is one of the best hip hop albums out there. The mixture of styles, instruments, guest artists and lyrical topics make for a spectacular listen.

Mad mix of different things from track to track. Doesn’t all work / appeal to me but even though there isn’t really a flow I found it an interesting listen. Thought @ Work, The Seed and the wacky Water good plus the Jill Scott one and the mad techno at the end rounded it all off. 4 for the Inventiveness.

Good stuff, appreciated the transition by the end towards longer, more Afrofuturist tracks - even a theremin on Water! K, also realized it may be time to get rid of my antique LN Fowler antique Phrenology antique head bought in York in the 90s...

Interesting, varied, if somewhat incoherent as a package. Really liked the more rap driven tracks, but never got dull as there was a surprise around every corner / some nice soul tracks, a somewhat out of place techno led close etc. A generous 4 driven by the variety on offer and the thankful lack of skits

Review - I feel really bad to not be into The Roots but this is the second timemive.lisrened to a full album of theirs and it just doesn't do anything for me. Score - 5/10 Need to listen? NO

No thanks

eigentlich no ganz Phenomenal und Phun! weniger old-school-hiphoppig wie erwartet. 3 wurzelgmüess

The roots vum name her vill versprächend aber so nervöse 90er hiphop Au namal nei non no

This album included multiple musical styles which made it quite enjoyable. Top moment for me was the jazzy spoken word on "Something in the way of things".

Summer of 2003, Rock Werchter Belgium Rotselaar, sun shines and The Roots plays excellent gig. I have to admit that this memory might affect to my view of this album. Phrenology hits home in many ways. Groove is there, feeling is there and style is there. As a downside this is done so nicely that it's getting almost too clean. Heavy flirting with soul makes this album so nice. Maybe I'm just narrow minded but I haven't ever understood feat culture on hiphop. I will never understand and it kinda bothers me thinking that almost 1/3 of this albums tracks has a feat artist. Without those artist's this album would not be what it is but still it bothers me. Strong 4 stars.

#449 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ✅ Alt hiphop has always been close to my heart, while I'm quite picky with it I do like new ways of doing things. I've especially liked stuff like De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic 5, a lot of instrumental stuff like J Dilla and The Alchemis, but also French stuff like Supreme NTM and MC Solaa, Japanense DJ Nujabes and so forth. While I am familiar with Roots and I know this album by name, but I've never really listened to it. Some of it sounded very good, but not quite up my alley as a whole. I might add some of the tracks to a playlists or two, maybe return to it sometime later, but that's about it. Teetering on 4/5, but will give 3/5

4/10. La verdad es que no puedo valorar bien este álbum porque no entiendo tanto las letras de los temas al estar en ingles, y siendo un disco de rap electro es algo bastante principal. Sin embargo, mirandolo desde una perspectiva 100% sonora y auditiva deja mucho que desear. Hay algunos samples y melodías que llaman un poco la atención pero no tiene un sonido que destaque más allá de la voz rapeando.

the quality of the tracks on this album are somewhat inconsistent but when it's on, it's some of the best rap/rock (I guess hip hop?) I've heard.

Gooddd

It was ok. Never really a fan of horny stuff

This was such an interesting listen, very diverse and a great mix.

Didn't even make it thru the first rap.

This grew on me as the album went along. It’s why you gotta listen all the way. Still a bit of the Radiohead effect at play for me here. “Rock You” was too raucous… It was like trying to listen to a song while being pelted with pea gravel from all directions. I really liked “The Seed” though. Prob a 2.5.

On the day that one of my favourite artists Glen Hansard tragically died due to a motorcycle accident I have to listen to the 2nd hiphop album in a row. What a contrast. I am totally not into Rap or HipHop except some rare exceptions. I was postively surpised by the outkast double album I had before my holiday break. The positive thing of the Roots is that it is a live band playing instruments and sample usage is minimal. That is a plus , but the sound goes is so many directions that it is lacking consistency. Best song is The Seed (2.0) but for the rest I was not really enjoying it. 2 stars

7/10 good start nice songs but again i feel like it was super repetetive

I like it. Funky.

I expected just another Hip Hop album but this was actually very good!

Lyrically complex, great beats, an all time great hip-hop album.

Kedeligt

Like most people on here I prefer their preceding album ‘Things Fall Apart’, but had not heard this one prior to today. It’s sprawling, varied and experimental in places and I enjoyed the earthiness that’s always present with the Roots. I think it suffers from 90s CD syndrome, in that the runtime is too long, and it causes it to lose focus. Overall though I enjoyed it

Cheeba, cheeba yo, the brown hornet pull it outcher pocket. It bein’ a lil Philly hippity hop. Got lotsa spittin’ and naggerin’, but the album improves as it progresses. Some of the tracks are really good and some are garbage. Got some clever rhymes and complex thoughts; Spitting into the jet stream of a blackbird with its ass on fire… Also heard a little influence from Slim Shady. (3.1*s) I don’t ask for much these days… (still holds up.)

The Roots dig deep and pull out a well-crafted masterpiece here. Phrenology bumps in your head no matter where or when played. The lyrical mastery of Black Thought paired with the slick beats by ?uestlove are only rivaled (matched) by a few other stellar rap duos in the game. Guest appearances from Talib Kweli and Jill Scott boost it further. Of course "The Seed (2.0)" takes top track spot but so much other great work. Some true, quality hip-hop throughout. I also appreciate the mix in of some other genres on a hip-hop album to show the versatility of the artist even if they aren't as strong. Been trying to scoop this record up at a good price for a while but been pricey (deservedly so)...may have to just get the RE copy. 4.05 stars goes to the quest for love and deep (sometimes dark) thoughts.

The Roots have a pretty wide cultural footprint, and while Questlove and/or some of the associated group members have a pop culture presence I can't say I have much familiarity with their music. They've have a presence as the house band for The Tonight Show for many years now, but I couldn't tell you anything about The Roots outside of The Seed 2.0. It's possible I've run into some of their stuff in the wild, but likely wouldn't have known it was them. As they are highly praised and considered one of the better hip hop acts over the past 25 years or so I was glad to have a reason to check out an album by them. I knew The Seed was from this album, but otherwise I went into Phrenology cold. What a treat of a listen it is as it is a very fresh take on a lot of the associated genres. It has a healthy dose of rap/hip hop, but has equal parts soul, rock and R&B in the mix. The music is creatively woven into the lyrics so its not just standard sample production and backbeats. It does feel like the music is a living part of each that is majorly contributing to the experience as opposed to taking a backseat to the vocal performances. Some pretty solid lyrical work by the main players and featured acts that include their take on some progressive cultural themes. Equal parts entertaining, creative and unique. Phrenology is not something I would consider in my main musical wheelhouse, but all in all it was a very satisfying listen pretty much from start to finish. 3.46 stars

Плотный твердый но пролежавший сыр. Очень неплохой альбом, отличный рэп и музыка. Проблема была в том что нет идентичности - я легко спутаю их с сотнями других качественных рэперов, кроме последней изумительной песни - сочетание рэпа, электронщины и глубокий басс битбокса. Из-за последнего трека ставлю оценку 6/10 если бы их было больше то можно было ставить и выше, треки такого формата идеально разбавили бы альбом и дали прослушиванию движения.

Gets after it in a very fun way

I've got this album in my library, and thanks for reminding me to listen to it again. This is really solid. I don't listen to this album enough.

Was listening on the go and late in the evening, so could not attend to the lyrics as much as I wanted. But this album seems really well put together on all fronts. Might have to bump it to 4 later down the road?

Meh. Wasn’t huge on it relative to stuff like Game Theory. A bit too experimental for me

Good fun squire. Enjoyed it with a glass of red and a cup of tea

3/5

i really enjoyed this!! i like how many different genres are here; the last song was really surprising to me. also so random but i have been listening to The Seed non stop for the last month so this album was timely. Fav tracks: The Seed (2.0); Sacrifice; Break You Off; Thirsty!

bacán

Está divertido, suena bien. Pero la verdad me parece largo para mi gusto, y se me hace un poco repetitivo. Igual para meter en una playlist de rap anda bien. 6/10

The Roots are like top tier academics that became expressive artists later in life (even if that's exactly backwards from the truth), in that their stuff is technically perfect but doesn't always rise to the level of emotionally inspired. That said, their work is always rich, inquisitive and worthy of deep, close listening. Phrenology is not the Roots album that I'm most familiar with, but it's chock full of ideas, hooks and experimentation. Though I can't pretend to have cataloged everything Black Thought has to say on this record, thematically, the album seems frequently interested in male sexuality, both in predictable hip hop ways but also zooming out to explore the topic in terms of self-aware reflection and even broader societal implications. Would I take a college course that fully dissected everything that I don't understand about this record's brilliance? I would.

A wide range of music under the hood of hip hop. Very nice. The seed is good but that’s just my expectation has been met. Nothing really blows my mind to push it to a five.

my favorite part of this album is when they go to the hardcore rapping section. i really love just how they can pretty seamlessly go from one genre-exploring-track to the next. ima give it a four, because i think this is an album worth coming back to

Exactly what you’d expect from the roots, great musicianship, thought-provoking lyrics, and a fun listen. No major hits on this album, the biggest standout track is definitely The Seed, but still above average compared to other albums.

At the beginning of this album I was going to complain that hip-hop albums are way too long. They all seam to be over an hour. By the end of the album however, I was jamming with it so much that I accidentally listened to two more The Roots songs on auto play. I wasn't following any of the lyrics, but I was grooving throughout this whole album.

This was good. There were quite a few skips though (for a next listen). Tentatively giving a 4 until I can listen again.

Boring and monotonous. Not foe me

hip hop maneirinho

A few really good tracks on this album but at over an hour, it’s a little bloated for me.

This passed me by at the time, yet I recognise one of two of the tracks. Decent enough for a solid six, but it is a bit bloated at 67 minutes. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆(6/10) Solid Total reviewed : 382 Already owned : 84 Purchased : 16 To buy : 7 Nope : 275

Ok

Pretty repetitive not really my thing.

fav songs; complexity neo-soul-ish, uneven, unfocused 30/100

I haven’t heard this before. I like the Roots but I guess it came out after I was done with college and was not paying much attention to anything that wasn’t weird underground noise rock. I like how they use a live backing band instead of solely using samples (not to say sampling is bad at all) and the backing band does some interesting things branching out into other genres. Most of the straightforward hip-hop on this album is almost experimental or at least covers ground I haven’t seen before. It’s altogether pretty great.

Not my thing

Fine hip hop album. I wouldn't say it's one of the best of the genre, but it's still good.

Long suspected I’d love The Roots and here we are. The genre journey this album took is so much fun. Loved it.

Not a fan.

Pretty good. Very experimental and great transitions.

Not only good, but also interesting. Didn't expect that, what a pleasant surprise.

Beats are right, raps are tight. A bit too long and conceptual. Strong overall, but not a revisit for me.

#403/1001. It took me three days to go through this album, not because it is bad but because it is so thick, in a good sense. Still could have continued for a longer time and sure will return later. I've bumped into Roots mostly via ?uestlove appearing in tens of music documentaries, I am sure I've heard them every now and then, but if I had to name one Roots song I couldn't do it. And I can't do it after this album either. But still this is a solid 5. There is so much goodness flowing and oozing here you just stick out the spoon and honey will drizzle on it. And as the great prophet Paleface told us: there are only two bands who pulled off combining rap with music played live - The Roots and Tulenkantajat - I have to give a 5, since the other band is from my hometown and most likely not on this list (will I don't think any Finnish band is).

Jimmy Fallon doesn’t deserve The Roots.

Far too many N words for the nursery drop off.

It is almost 5/5, however, I want another as one song as powefull as Seed

I fuckkkkk with this. Lively, varied beats and instrumentation. Rock You and all 24 glorious seconds of !!!!!!!! get things started in an in-your-face, almost hardcore punk fashion. The album settles into a more funky groove from there. The Seed (2.0) is the only song I knew heading into this - I love it. I started to lose interest with two excessive meandering tracks in a row (Break You Off and Water) but Quills picked things back up and the album finished pretty strong. It's great to hear Talib Kweli on the list!

Wish I could rate this higher but just has a couple hits and the rest not super great.

Nah mate.

Phrentow - 3/5 Rock You - 4/5 !!!!!!! - 3/5 Sacrifice - 4/5 Rolling With Heat - 4/5 WAOK (AY) Rollcall - 3/5 Thought @ Work - 4/5 The Seed (2.0) - 4.5/5 Break You Off - 4/5 Water - 4.5/5 Quills - 4/5 Pussy Galore - 3.5/5 Complexity - 3.5/5 Something in the Way of Things (In Town) - 3.5/5 Rhymes & Ammo - 4/5 Thirsty! - 4/5 The Roots? You mean the Tonight with Jimmy Fallon house band? This album takes a different direction than other, similar albums about blackness, which I think is to its benefit. They are a really good band that can really play anything, but I think the disjointedness does not work to their benefit. Good stuff overall but from what it seems it should have been the album before this one that should have been included. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: The Seed (2.0), Water

Very cool, need to listen again. Its dripping with grooves

Not really my thing

Wow. This is really good really really good. The production is out of this world. Black thought is not the best rapper in my opinion, but it really works with this production. Quest is obviously one of the best drummers of all time, and it shows on this record. The live instrumentation is a very cool touch to a hip-hop R&B album really good stuff.

Jazzy conscious hip-hop with real band. A lot to appreciate here instrumentally to lyrically. The band really elevates the sound but the vocals are not lacking either. I can see how this influenced later hip-hop albums. Namely, a lot of this reminds me of Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Good stuff.

Great to hear a variety of instrumentation and sounds on this groovy album.

Its a bit all over the place but any album with a track as good as The Seed on it can't score low

This is the weirdest and best episode of Jimmy Fallon ever

This album sounded very out there. The things that were put together on this album were something else- At times it felt disjointed but at other times it felt like a masterpiece, I was never quite sure which way I actually fully felt about the album. The interludes flowed into the tracks well and the little earworms that bounced all over the album I can’t decide if they irritated me or whether I loved them! ‘Thought at work’ interlude especially I found genius. Best track- ‘rolling with heat’ is the one that stands out! Worst track- ‘!!!!!!’ I’m still undecided on if I liked or not but right now I’m edging towards like. So a 7.5/10 for me!

The Roots - Phrenology Full of ideas, full of invention. Not afraid to go in starkly different directions within the genre. The run on the second half of the album - The Seed, Break You Off, Water, Quills - is sublime. Best Track - Water Worst Track - Rhymes and Ammo 8/10

I was not a hip-hop head at the time of it's release but I had a couple buddies who were and would play this all the time. Good album. Not surprised it's on here.

I really liked listening to this traveling through the city on my bike. Will listen again

Come on. I mean it’s fine but I would definitely not listen again. I don’t think that anybody should be subjected to a 10 minute song where half of it is just screeching. I liked rock you and thirsty.

Eric Clapton???? Why did he have to come for bro like that. During the interlude she says “prepare for 2 hours of ad free music” are you dumb? Album is an hour bud. Break you off sounds great, it’s a shame it’s about a guy trying to get a woman to cheat on her boyfriend. For me, that makes the song worse. Raping eric imminently.

Didn’t really care for this one besides the last two tracks

These beats are so good. The rhythms are fun and the production is great. Sometimes the songs kinda go on and on and don't go anywhere and sound repetitive, but overall this was fun! Liked Songs: "Rock You" , "Sacrifice" , "Thought @ Work" , "The Seed (2.0)" , "Break You Off" , "Rhymes & Ammo" , "Thirsty"

I love The Seed 2.0 with Cody Chestnutt. Amazing track. I also generally like the way the roots mix live instruments with occasional samples. A few of the tracks are a little meandering/annoying (Water, Something in the way of things).

If the worst half of this album was as good as the best half, this would be 5 stars. But there's enough missteps and failed experiments to make this a low 4 star.

There are a couple of 4-5 songs on here, but only a couple. And if you put 'Things Fall Apart' on *right* after listening to this, it's just so weak by comparison. Maybe a high 3/low 4 kind of situation, but grading down because they have such better representations of their work.

This is my first exposure to the Roots other than the little bit seen on Jimmy Fallon. The musicianship here is undeniable, and I’m really enjoying what I’m hearing, though I feel like I need more time with this to process everything that is going on.

The Roots have always been one of the most forward-thinking and often underappreciated hip-hop acts. Phrenology is an example of them pushing themselves sonically and while it’s a bit messy and not every risk pays off they still manage to bring so many new, fresh ideas to the table and this record was a great time as a result. Black Thought and Questlove are on top of their game as always. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Break You Off, Thought @ Work, Rock You

Expectation: -> The Roots from the Jimmy Fallon show? After listening: -> Ooooo what a find. I guess I was never inspired by their late night TV gig and so never sought out their music. -> If a few of these tracks were deleted in favor of a few bangers, this would be a five in my book. Hoping this band shows up again on this list. Track ranking: Seed Complexity Sacrifice Quills Rhymes Break Heat Rock Galore Water Thought Something Thirsty Thought (0:59) !! Phrentrow 9/10/26 edit (2.5 months later): I am returning to this album more than any other. Switching from 4 to 5 rating.

I was very excited to see the roots on here! I discovered them when I spent a year living in Philly in 99. They're from Philly so they were beloved there. It's good stuff.

4.0 - This album is very good, but it was still a strange choice for the only Roots entry. I'm partial to Illadelph Halflife (a top 5 hip-hop album of all time imo), but Things Fall Apart is their most celebrated album so I would have expected that.

Most songs had good instrumentation. There's some nice singing. The rap is often still tiring to me.

Are there any other women on this website who think it's weird that men are so obsessed with saying the word "pussy" or is it just me

I think having some conscious jazzy rap is just a nice breath of fresh air

Would I listen again: nah Not my style but I didn’t think it was objectively bad!

Bien.

First half was such a bore. When they got into the dancey stuff I had a lot of fun.

The production on this album is really, really bad. The delay on "Rock You" is offensive and not in a way that hip hop artists want to be offensive. The harsh cut off between every song is brutal and gives whiplash. The bright side of this album is the rapping though. It's really tight. Thankfully that is what takes center stage on the album, and it saves it quite a bit for me. I think the back half of the album is also better than the beginning. Yeah, the back half is definitely better, or at least more consistent in quality. I wish the album started out better, because I ended up actually enjoying it a bit. It does fall into the trappings of 2000s rap, which is to say, it's misogynistic. Like, if I was a woman, I wouldn't want to listen to this. so that paired with the rough start, and the fact that the production really doesn't actually get all the better, it ends up with a middling rating, when I do think it could have been much better. Favorite Song(s): !!!!!!!, WAOK (Ay) Rollcall, Water

Tulipahan kuunneltua. Ei jäänyt kyllä mitään erikoista mieleen.

The Roots are one of the most creative and unique hip hop groups ever. They pretty much recreate themselves with every album. This one right here finds them at their most experimental. It's hard to compare it to anything, the production has a super rough and raw quality often pulling elements from rock which makes it sound even harder. It's very different from other hardcore hip hop artists tho, the drums have a very unique feel, there is always some odd grooves and unexpected rhythms. On Rock You the drums are so raw, feels like they could explode at any moment. Rolling With Heat has a wild instrumental, so odd but somehow works very well. There is some pop hooks on this album, but they're not incorporated in a tacky way, but rather sound cool and mysterious. The Seed is out of this world, what an amazing tune, the bassline is amazing. The 2nd half of the album is somehow even wilder, they try some even weirder stuff. The ending of Break You Off, which develops into this breakbeat piece is incredible, they pull it off so smoothly, sounds like the song naturally evolving into this amazingly beautiful ending. Water starts off perfectly normal before changing to this experimental piece, it's so hard to pin down but sounds insane. The back half also includes some spoken poetry over insane sax passages and a techno rap crossover. I love how random and all over the place the album is, and it's super impressive how they manage to sound so well over such odd beats.

Bien, mais trop long.

Pretty okay but can't take them seriously knowing they're just Jimmy Fallon's backup band.

THIS is the best band in late night?! I was going to give this a three because I appreciated the sudden genre changes and first half of this album…then it really fell off as it went on. And, automatic star removal for naming a song Pussy Galore & it ain’t about James Bond

I don’t like you get to be The Tonight Show band and pretend your hard

1. Phrentrow (★☆☆☆☆) 2. Rock You (★⯨☆☆☆) -Yiia nigga, yi, yi, yia... yi-yi-yiia, yiayiayia... 3. !!!!!!! (⯨☆☆☆☆) 4. Sacrifice (★⯨☆☆☆) -Se me hizo eterna... 5. Rolling With Heat (★⯨☆☆☆) 6. Thought @ Work (⯨☆☆☆☆) 7. Thought @ Work (★★★⯨☆) 8. The Seed (2.0) (★★★⯨☆) 9. Break You Off (★★⯨☆☆) 10. Water (★★⯨☆☆) -Larguísima, insoportablemente larga, aunque interesante, parece vacía, con más pretensión de lo que logra, quizás la marihuana le pegó mal y dejó grabando por 10 minutos, y se olvidó de editar, lo que explicaría este álbum de mierda para variar... 11. Quills (★⯨☆☆☆) -Yiia, yi-yi-yiia... 12. Pussy Galore (★☆☆☆☆) -Pusi, yia yia, yi-yi-yiia, mo mo, momo pu, momomomo pupu, pusipusipusipusi... yi-yi yiiiaaa niggaaa 13. Complexity (★⯨☆☆☆) 14. Something In The Way Of Things (In Town) (★☆☆☆☆) 15. Rhymes And Ammo (★☆☆☆☆) 16. Thirsty! (★⯨☆☆☆) -TOTAL = ★⯨☆☆☆ (1,6) -Es un 1, uno-uno-uno, YI-YI-YI YIIIAA NIGGGAA

I had never heard of The Roots before, and I suspect that’s because - at least on this album - the group hides behind collaborations with well-known artists. Or to be more precise: the style of the individual songs depends so heavily on their collaborators that it’s not at all clear what The Roots stand for. Maybe you could look at the first “real” track, “Rock You”, as a reference point, but that song is so bad that you can’t even come to a more favorable conclusion... Let me put it this way: The Roots are a kind of music collective that’s good at providing their collaborators with tailor-made backing tracks. The whole thing falls into the not-quite-so-annoying realm of hip-hop. So for me, “Phrenology” falls into the “tolerable but not good” category.

I'm obviously not the target audience, but even I can hear it's well made. A bit long tho , isn't it?

Just not for me. A bit too ‘difficult’ of an album for my taste. 2/5

Incredible creativity on display here, 'Water' is fantastic. The production is incredible and so punchy. Slumps a little in the last third but not enough to make it not great .

This shit slapped. So many different genres of music packed into 1 album and done so well. Thoroughly enjoyed. Not my all time fave (not quite a 5) but a banger nonetheless. -1 point for Water, little too much. Fave songs: Break You Off, the Seed(2.0)

Definitely a 4, maybe a 5, giving it a 5 so the website doesn’t think I hate all music

what a ride.

A landmark album from one of the greatest hip hop groups. It shows how they can explore a beat and melody, and Black Thoughts lyrics are better than anyone.

4/10 A better hip hop album. I like the Seed, ignoring the lyrics. Hated Water, which almost needed to be skipped during the 5mins of nothingness. Far too long, but that seems to go without saying in this genre

Hardly find anything interesting apart from the Seed and maybe Rhymes and ammo. Diversity of genres in this album and most of it is quite unpleasant to the ear.

Not that interesting for me. A few unique tunes, but they didn't draw me into the album.

Your uncle Tom had this album when we lived together, it’s track after track of energy, rhythm and hip hop. Can’t fault it, and it’s another one to play loud in the living room and let it take you, or on your head phones to take it some where with you.

Decent. 3/5

Some good stuff.

I like how the songs in this album sound. I like the different sounds they use too so I would give it a 3.5 if I could.

I like it a lot because it has a great beat and melody and sound effects. But it has some lyrics that I don't like like the not able to understand. The lyrics like I mostly understood. The non confusing one's but I really like and it's a solid pick for me. I would really recommend it too like many others and like I would recommend it to my family and friends. 8.3/10

They were really good and catchey I reccomend with parental advisory first

I like him. I like him b/c he sings good.

i would recommend it to ANYONE the album is awsome

The lyrics I don't like (I can tell why they made this explicit) but I like the music in the background. Great.

Pretty good, I like rap and they executed it very well.

Not my favorite, I don't really like the songs since I don't like rap music. and I wouldn't really recommend

way too long and a lot of it felt irrelevant to me

A cousin of Mos Def’s The New Danger, The Roots’ Phrenology is not the outfit’s greatest record, but it’s probably the best introduction to what they do so well & why they’re such a necessary footprint in hip hop history. While some of these tracks put me to bed, I recognize that The Roots are at their most interesting when they are most intent on straddling the lines between pure & pop, rap & rock/r&b. Black Thought is a lyricist’s lyricist, but he also has a knack for hooks & songs. The freestyler on Funk Master Flex is also the composer of The Seed (2.0), & that should be celebrated.

Not sure if it's just the mood I'm in but this just sounded kinda messy

eh

C'est China qui m'a fait découvrir The Roots.

Au risque de me répéter.... 1h c'est beaucoup trop long pour un album rap. Je suis arrivé à embarquer au début, j'aime bien le côté 'vrai band' et j'aime beaucoup Questlove mais... je perds le focus quand c'est long comme ça. Et j'ai détesté la dernière toune qui m'a fait penser à du Prodigy.

Les Roots c’est 5/5. Black Tought excellent lyriciste, er du hip hop avec de l’instrumentation live c’est swell! Par contre pas mon préféré des Roots, je nommerais à ce sujet Game Theory.

Loved it! Fantastic variety in the track list. Hip hop soul, rock. 5/5

mja

Groovy baby. Another reminder of how nuanced hip-hop can be when you actually take the time to listen to it.

- 2002 bell’anno - Sound hip hop autentico ed essenziale - Sacrifice !! Rolling with the heat !! Quills !! - Ma ho sentito ”shabuya rollcall” in una skit ?? - The Seed (2.0) bel riff di chitarra Voto: 7

The Roots не дуже люблю, але поважаю. Буде цікаво послухати. Несподівані панківські вставочки. А так досить попсово - не моє. The Seed (2.0) вже колись чув - прикольно. Complexity попсова, але гарна пісня. Something In The Way Of Things (In Town) - крутий джазовий, експерементальний трек. Якби весь альбом був такий, було б супер. Thirsty! - танцювальний трек, додає різноманітності альбому. В загальному не зайшло, бо я думав що The Roots це щось в стилі A Tribe Called Quest, але ні.

There's a lot that I like about this album, but the overall bend toward a slightly more commercial sound is a surprising result since it came at the end of the Soulquarians sessions. All the collabs are there, but the sound and the vibe is quite different from Things Fall Apart, which is the album that should've been here.

Bringing old school.back for the new millennium - and late night shows!

Knew the Roots from Fallon and the cultural relevancy of Quest Love and Black Thought but unaware of any songs. I enjoyed this for a few tracks and then its harder to stay engaged. The album is loonnggg and the songs are similar for the most part. I enjoyed the vocal collaborations but it only makes it so interesting.

3 stars

++: Phrentrow, Rolling with Heat, WAOK (Ay) Rollcall, Thought @ Work, The Seed (2.0), Break You Off, Water, Quills, Complexity +: !!!!!!!, Sacrifice, Something in the Way of Things (In Town), Rhymes and Ammo, Thirsty! +-: Rock You, Pussy Galore 7,9/10

Maybe 25 years ago, but not today

I honestly struggled to finish this, it really started to drag and I cant really place why ur didn't work for me tbh. There's parts I like, but not full songs, and in general I felt that the songs went on for a long time also. Fav Track: Break You Off

It’s good but seemed to be performative at points. Didn’t really stick with me but i respect the talents

Of course I love the Roots, but I only knew a couple songs off of this. Thankfully, I remedied it immediately. Might be their most fun listen? “The Seed” is definitely the best Rolling Stones song of the last 40 years. Just keeps me wondering why they slum it on Jimmy Falllon.

Otro álbum de rap. Si, de los 1001 álbumes que tengo que escuchar antes de morir, 300 son de rap, prefiero morirme. Tiene algunos ritmos chulos, pero, señora, suélteme el brazo.

I wish I would have heard this in 2002 because in 2026, this sounds like it could have been made today. Super fresh and current. Probably about 15 minutes longer than I would have liked, all told. There wasn't a (music, not spoken word) track on this album that my foot was still. I'll definitely be adding Phrenology to my personal collection

In what world is this the one The Roots album that you choose to put on this list?

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed, the rock and soul of the seed or the mad hard house of closer thirsty. These show the ambition of the group and the genres they will operate in… however there’s also parts of the album that are baggy or fairly blunt… yes I’m looking at you pussy galore. An interesting take on where hip hop went at the start of the century

Some smart, good rhymes, if some occasional silliness. The vocal collaborations help keep the album going.

I’d forgotten how much I liked this record. Really fun. 8.5/10

Hell of a band.

This album isn't done paying cultural dividends yet.

🙂

Not the Roots album I was expecting from the list (Things Fall Apart). This album follows that strength as an ambitious, mature project. But for me this album suffers from a bit of the same issues I have with later Roots albums...almost too much scope, leaving it feeling fractured and lacking cohesion. Black Thought's lyrical skills combined with their expert instrumentation at times feels like drinking from a sonic firehose. But nonetheless, for 2002 this was such a genre-busting effort. 3.5⭐️

Light 9/10 So…’Water’ is just one of the best songs ever written? Black Thought is a top 5 rapper of all time? Questlove is one of the best living drummers that we have? A lot of the 1/5 reviews on this kinda reek of racism based purely on the fact that “this is a hip hop album, there must be a lot of use of the n-word and misogyny”…right right

рэперы не поняты

not my type,too nosiy

Not the best Roots album, but some good tracks. Good flow to the album.

I really struggled to stay engaged with this. The extent of my black thought fandom is his freestyle on funkflex which is one of the wildest musical performances you'll every see. This project, however, will not get a second listen by me and sits somewhere between a 2-3. Rhymes and Ammo is boppy enough to raise it to a 3. I'm sure that would rise if I spent more time with the lyrics.

Every once and a while there is a verse in here that makes this thing good. But in general, this felt like a slog that relied too much on toxic rap tropes to be great. 2.5 stars rounding down.

Not really for me. Not something I would normally listen to. Quite monotonous in delivery. Sparse musically. Thanks for trying. I gave up 3/4 of the way through

I had never really listened to The Roots before so going in I assumed they were gonna be like a pretty standard 90s/early 2000s rap album. But I was really surprised by the energy they brought into this, I didn't realize how much fun this album was gonna be. And with the exception of a couple longer tracks towards the end, the album absolutely flies by, it's insane how fast 16 songs can go. I was really impressed by this, I get why Gorillaz wanted this guy on The Mountain now. Favorites: Rock You, Water, Rhymes and Ammo

Really appreciate the range and quality. This is an excellent band. They shine in collaborations.

These the mfs in Jimmy Fallon’s talkshow??

Solid rap album. The Seed is a good song, but weird lyrics

Great flow throughout, love questlove’s drumming

I only liked one song ("The Seed"); the rest just weren't my thing

Sublime

Experimenteller Sound, für mich hat der rote Faden gefehlt

Water hat bisschen den Vibe gestört. The Seed, Pussy Galore, und das erste Lied waren gut.

Cooler sound, hab nichts einzuwenden

As I have said before I don't mind a bit of rap done well, as in not like this. This was that special type of (c)rap spelt with a silent 'c'. Didn't enjoy it really 1

Suffers from the over use of the cliched N-bomb, but is lifted by some decent musicianship. I preferred the vocalists that sung compared to those that didn’t.

Better than your average rap album. That could be down to the not so frequent use of usual tropes such as the 'N' word in every other sentence and slightly less derogatory language towards women. Still there was 'Pussy Galore' but hey, its miles better musically than most from its genre.

Another 70 minutes of hip-hop. Just because of "The Seed", "Complexity" and "Rhymes And Ammo" I wanted to give it the two stars, but "Water", "Something In The Way Of Things" and "Thirsty!" destroy it completely for me. 1,5

Cool listening album. I think The Roots sadly got me on an off day. Two listens but I didn't find more than a 3 in either. Big asterisk that this one could be better and it may have been me.

I have only been a fan of the odd Roots song here and there in the past. I think after 3 listens the same goes here. It did grow on me, and I'm sure it would continue to. I'm not sure I personally need a full album of The Roots. Some good classic beats. Nice flow. Fan of Talib Kweli popping in for a track.

When to listen: certain songs for hype, like The Seed 2.0... but mostly just a historically important album that is in a genre I don't normally vibe with

6/10

The Roots – Phrenology (2002) Ngl, this might be the best experimental rap album I have ever heard in this challenge. I wasn't feeling how it started at first, and the burst of punk rock on "!!!!!" right after "Rock You" was crazy, but the transition from there into "Sacrifice" completely changed my mind. I liked "Sacrifice" and "Thought @ Work" lowkey got me moving, but that was before I reached "Break You Off", a beautiful song I’ve heard before, and it was great finding out where it came from. You can't talk about experimental and forget the 10 minutes of pure madness on "Water," which beautifully gave birth to a run of "Quills" and "Pussy Galore" that was just a chef's kiss. Then let's talk about "Complexity," the absolute favorite of them all. The chemistry between Jill Scott and Black Thought over Questlove was exactly what I was rooting the Roots for (pun intended). The subtle interpolation of Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" didn't go unheard either; it was beautiful, absolute art. The spoken word on "Something in the Way" was great too. I liked how this album brought together many genres; even though I didn't feel the majority of them individually, the cohesion and ambition of their purpose was entirely there. A strong 5/5.

Hip hop is not for me. Sacrifice not a bad track. Not sure what Water was meant to be other than noise.

Gear: Hifiman HE6se v2 SE Artwork: 🧩🧠🩻 Production: 🎧🙂‍↕️👌 Music: 🥁🎤🌪️ Rating: 🫚🫚🫚(🫚)/5

3.5/5

Nice yo have something I hadn’t heard before

Oli ihan Hyviä mutta sitten taas ei niin hyviä.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a hip-hop album, and I’ve never listened to the Roots before. I’ve probably heard some of their songs, but I haven’t sat down and actually made a point to listen to them. I have heard them play on The Tonight Show a bunch back in the day. I know they’re from Philadelphia, Questlove is the drummer, and Black Thought, or Tariq Trotter, is the main rapper and lyricist. But otherwise, I’m going in blind, and I never really know how to rate or review hip-hop other than if it sounds good. And, as I’m used to these albums lasting just over half an hour, I’m sure this one will last like an hour and a half. Ugh. There are 16 tracks, and it’s over an hour long. This one may not be track-by-track. Track 1 is, of course, a skit or interstitial. I wonder who started this and why? Was it because there wasn't enough material, so they had to pad the album with hacky comedy? Anyway. Track 2 is Rock You and the beat automatically reminds me of the Wu-Tang Clan. I have no doubt the music will sound good, and Tariq will rap great. I like the Roots. They are at least musicians and not just loops and samples. This was their fifth album, and it came out in 2002 in time for Thanksgiving. I was not into rap at that time, at least any rap that wasn’t on MTV. I don’t think the Roots were ever really an MTV act. I remember a ton of Diddy, if I can still make reference to him. I’ll say, I never really trusted the guy. He always seemed to be a manipulator to me. He was the business guy, then he’s rapping? Now he’s acting? It just seemed like he used others to get himself over. Of course, now, I think we know that for sure, amongst other things. Digression in 3…2…1…I wonder what the producer of Get Him To The Greek feels like these days? I mean, that movie starred Diddy, Russell Brand, and Jonah Hill. Hill is another that just seems to be fake. I don’t think it’s because he's necessarily a bad guy. I think he’s one of those people who has never really been comfortable in his own skin. He seems to be searching for a persona. Plus, of the three Greek stars, he’s the least likely to end up in jail, at least at this point. By the way, I loved Get Him to the Greek. I thought it was brilliant and was the best use of Brand’s nonsense there ever was. But now, a dark cloud rests over it. Digression over. Track 3 is a punk track called !!!!!!. Unfortunately, it’s only 25 seconds long. It’s really good. Track 4 is Sacrifice featuring Nelly Furtado. Nelly Furtado? I thought she’d disappeared. Oh, of course, in 2002, Furtado was at her height. Who knew we wouldn’t really hear from her again, like, ever? This song isn’t so bad. Nothing special. This song is equivalent to the metal band needing a slow song for the chicks in the late 1980s. Track 5 is Rolling with Heat featuring Talib Kweli. I’ve heard the name Talib Kweli for years, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard or seen him. This song is really good. It’s one of those hip-hop songs that has a weird sound throughout that you don’t really know what it is. Is that an oboe? Is it a bassoon? I had this way too loud, but it’s a banger, as the kids say in the streets. Track 7 is Thought @ Work, and it sounds like an old school 80s hip-hop song that was built with samples. That’s the beauty of the Roots, they can build songs out of samples, but when it comes to playing live, the band is good enough to recreate the music, and it probably sounds better live. While I’d say this album is most definitely a hip-hop album, there were critics at the time who classified the album as a neo-soul album. I get that. It’s got an Erykah Badu and D’Angelo vibe. Questlove played a part in the movement as well. Track 8 is The Seed (2.0) featuring Cody Chestnutt, and I know I’ve heard that guitar riff somewhere before. I guess it was this song, but I just don’t remember. Damn you, old brain! Whatever the case, the song is really good. It’s a mix of hip-hop and rock and roll. Some compared the music on this album to Prince, but to me, Prince sounds like the 80s. This song sounds timeless. I definitely remember these lyrics because they are badarse. “If Mary dropped my baby girl tonight I would name her Rock'N'Roll” I guess this is the song, and I just never knew it. Track 9 is Break You Off with Musiq, another name I’ve seen before, but not sure I’ve ever heard. This definitely sounds like a slow jam to try to woo a girl. I hate it already. But I’m sure it drives the ladies wild. Moving on. Track 10 is Water, and it’s 10 minutes long. That seems excessive. The song appears to end around four minutes in. The song wasn’t bad, but meh. I don’t know if I’m hearing a babbling brook or a bong being hit. Okay, I see Questlove is a fan of Frank Zappa. This music makes me think I’m still listening to the Mothers of Invention. Moving on. Track 11 is Quills, and it features Tracey Moore, whoever that is. Is Snoop Dogg the biggest success story to go on from being a nobody featuring to a superstar in a matter of, seemingly, months? This song is fine. Track 12 is Pussy Galore, and I’d expect wordplay like this on most hip-hop albums. The song seems to be about how everybody is motivated by the vagina and other superficial types of things like money and fame. It’s a cool-sounding song. I’m ready for this ride to be over, though. That's what she said? Did I do that right? Tracks 13 and 14 are a couple of hip-hop ballads that don’t appeal to me. Track 15 is Rhymes and Ammo, and the song opens sounding like the beginning of Primal Scream’s Jailbird Pie. That’s a great song. Rhymes and Ammo is alright. I must say, I’m just not a hip-hop guy. It just doesn’t do it for me. I need something more. If I were more of a lyric guy, then I’m sure I would feel differently. I do think rap and hip-hop fans should listen to the album. It probably is an all-timer. It’s just not for me.

Phrentrow - na Rock you - 4 !!!!!!! - na Sacrifice - 3 Rolling with heat - 4 Waok (ay) rollcall - na Thought @ work - 4 The seed (2.0) - 5 Break you off - 3 Water - 2 Quills - 4 Pussy galore - 4 Complexity - 3 Something in the way of things (in town) - 2 Rhymes and ammo - 4 Thirsty! - 2

Took me a few sessions to finish because of the intensity and my own state of mind. Second half of the record is much better imho, incredible hip-hop that advances the form. Initially 3 stars but bumping to 4. "Will probably listen again" and to more than just 3 songs is my 4 defining criteria. This album feels ahead of me and I'd like to catch up.

Too long, but groovy as hell. The playing, oof

Arrancamos nueva semana con otro clásico de éste reto: discos de hip hop. Nuevamente, se trata de una banda que no ubico. Me gustó. Me pareció una propuesta interesante. Sin más para agregar, me despido.

Giving these guys some due because they're a South Philly band. But I can't say I enjoyed this much. I liked the blend of rap, rock, soul, and punk and some of the experimental songs like "Water" and "Something in the Way of Things," but the more rap-centric songs left me cold. It sounds like a lot of other misogynistic rap with the requisite swagger and that just gets tiring. But they are a tight band and they get credit for creating their own style and the mash-up of genres.

My kind of hip hop, pure and simple. Love that The Roots do mostly live music with every song, Questlove brings the groove whether theyre doing straight hip hop, funk, r&b, rock or even punk. Black Thought is one of the most deft lyricists ever, with a great flow. This record is super creative and gets really weird at times with the poetry and extended instrumentals. Great guest spots too and hooks. More alt rap like this should be on the list

I really liked this. The album has a great texture to it, and it is showcased through a wide variety of sounds and tracks. The lyrics are strong, the music is on the chill side, there's a lot to love here. I hadn't ever heard any of these tracks before, I feel like there aren't any songs that scream "hit" unlike a lot of albums on this list, but that is the biggest knock I have against the album (and that's a pretty tiny issue overall). Favorite track: "Sacrifice"

Hip Hop with live instruments? Yes please!

Insists upon itself. Some pretty good songs, some pretty bad songs. Production and instrumentation is experimental, groovy, and interesting. Overall an interesting listen, but not the greatest.

gut. nicht meins, aber gut i guess. also i hab nit so aufn text ghört. vllt sollte man des machen? ach idkk i würds jetz nit nochmal hören. 2/5

Competent beats and production wasted on the same boring subjects. A real chore to listen to.

Considering the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of rap, this was a nice listen with a few stand out tracks. I realized that my preferred type of rap is one with a mix of "regular" vocals and more interesting instrumentals that blend different genres which was a lot of this album. A few tracks were on the experimental side and not a good kind of experimental, they definitely bring down the enjoyment of the album as a whole.

Highlights: Rock You, Sacrifice, Rolling WIth Heat, Thought @ Work, The Seed, Water, Quills, Thirsty I had high expectations from the Roots, but I never got into them. A big mistake on my part since I loved this record. From what I've heard of the Roots, they seemed like a classy take on hip hop, but this was a bit different... The opening tracks were a lot more bassy and had a harder sound than expected - they went full hip-hop. It also commits to its aim for the cool factor with all these interludes between the tracks. I really liked this grittier version of them, but the second half does slow down and drag itself a bit too much for me to call the record a masterpiece.

A pretty average album. There are a couple of decent songs in Sacrifice and The Seed, but the rest is fairly unremarkable rap to me. It tries to blend in influences from rock and jazz, but in the end becomes a bit everything and nothing.

An interesting mix of Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, and Jazz. There were enough interesting ideas on there to keep it interesting throughout despite the long run-time. Favourites were the rock-influenced 'The Seed 2.0' and the jazzy 'Break You Off'. It was borderline between a 3 and a 4, but I'm feeling generous and think it's just about good enough to warrant a 4.

A decent album, let down by being too long, with too many tracks that just stayed on one unvaried beat/rhythm for their entire (often overlong) durations. ‘The Seed (2.0)’ was probably my favourite song, being more rock/soul than hip-hop. Other relative highlights included ‘Thought @ Work’, ‘Pussy Galore’ and the bonus track ‘Rhymes and Ammo’, which I preferred to most of the main album. ‘Break You Off’ was also pretty decent, but was definitely too long, as was ‘Water’, especially the almost ambient instrumental section. Unfortunately, this album outstayed its welcome for me. Upper end of 2 stars.

I like the music more than for most albums of this genre, that I have heard, but I still don't like the album much. 3 stars or C-.

I really enjoyed listening because of the beats and the vibe. Until I paid closer attention to the lyrics of “the seed 2.0” and felt really uncomfortable. This kind of spirit takes away some of the enjoyment for the album. Otherweise I loved how the band switches between different genres, and it always feels natural... really impressive.

Oh I thought this was gonna be 2000s shitty indie but this is actually something. Oh. Oh don't hurt em. Ok. Idk if some of these are making the playlists but I'm glad I'm hearing them. It's some really interesting music. It feels very unique which I've definitely needed from an album after the reheated nachos this list has been throwing at me. Big fan definitely. Nelly Furtado?? Why is she actually everywhere. Idk just funky beats great flow interesting sounds I'm really enjoying listening to this. One could say it's music to my ears even. You pushed your seed where?? Get away from me man. Really really liking this it's so good. Banger after banger. Favourite: Sacrifice Least favourite: Complexity

Better than expected.

You don’t have to put the bad ones in the end, just delete them!!! 3.5/5

(3/5) The Roots are the best when they stick to their 'roots'. See what I did there? At it's best, the tracks are good East Coast rap, but when they play around with that formula, they overstep. "Rock You", "Rolling with Heat", "Thought @ Work" (is that the Apache break I hear?? I may be wrong, but I think it's my first encounter with it on this list..), & "Rhymes and Ammo" are some of the best tracks on the record, and all are clearly Easy Coast. "The Seed", "Break You Off", & "Water" are the better examples of them veering off formula and form. They took some bold swings, but just seemed to hit some foul balls.

First experience with The Roots, and it came across as a pretty mixed bag. Some pretty solid music here, even if a lot of the lyrics are pretty generic and interchangeable (yeah, yeah, you rap better than other guys, I get it). All in all a decent fusion of sounds and styles that blend well but don't call me back for further exploration.

Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 4 = 4.2 rounded down to a 4 "They say a record ain't nothing if it's not touching, gripping/ Draw you in closer, make you want to listen to it/ And if you real ill at making music, the listener feel like he living through it" I will admit to being mostly familiar with The Roots as the house band for The Tonight Show. And I haven't seen much of that aside from some of the early viral song stuff. They seem like a talented bunch of guys. THE TRACKS "Rock You" - So I guess a lot of edges were filed down when they went to network tv. I really dig Black Thought's flow here. The lyrics are dense and he navigates them with an acrobatic flair. Never robotic and halting but always stumbling forward WITH the beat. Solid stuff, but unfortunately I did not care as much for the instrumentation. The rock sound is a lot, especially coming off that N.E.R.D. album we just had. "!!!!!!!" -Interesting and unexpected straight up hardcore punk. Hard to tell if it's serious of not. Based on the lyrics I'd say no, but not really much to enjoy. "Sacrifice" - This is a bit more of what I expected. Some late 70s soul sounds underneath another Black Thought marathon rap session. Features a guest from Nelly Furtado on the chorus, where it slows down .... just. These guys do NOT seem concerned with provided a chill atmosphere with these beats. "Rolling with Heat" - Now we're cooking. As mush as I dug the previous track, this was MILES ahead in all regards. This one features a few guests, Talib Kweli, who burns it up on his solo verse. The beats on this one are fucking tight. Questlove is credited with drums as well as production, and this sounds very much like a live drum loop. I have seen the man play before and he's a talented dude. No idea if the beats here were sweetened at all, but who cares. Sounds great. * "WAOK (Ay) Rollcall" - Won't be spending too much time on interstiaial/ skit stuff but this is interesting as we get call outs to what I assume are a lot of the group's influences. "Thought @ Work" - Dig the layers here. This is giving me some old school LL Cool J energy vibes. He's not the fastest rapper I've ever heard, but damn is able to pack a LOT of content into each verse, which are also long in and of themselves. Would be curious to see how he gets away with this in a live set. Like does he have some sort of yoga trained breathing method. Damn. "The Seed (2.0)" - We start with an Some Girls era almost Rolling Stones-ish sound that loops throughout. Cody Chesnutt gets a feature here on the chorus, and does a fine job. Supposedly he's a bit of a neo-soul star, and might be tempted to look more into his stuff. The song is pretty much his. "Break You Off" - Big change up here as we get a very downbeat, introspective track heavy on the cymbals and with a catchy synth line that runs throughout. Black Thought also proves himself to be pretty adaptable as he slows things way down and his flow becomes more wavelike, hitting those crests and troughs sometimes every other word. Still mathematical and precise though, and without a breath in between. The R&B breakdown sections with the jazzy electric piano work really well and add a bit of dynamic contrast. "Water" - Some interesting vocal effects don't keep the rhythm section from taking center stage on this. The beats are almost but don't quite out of step with the vocals and it adds a sort of musical limp quality in the timing that really hits. Halfway through we get an extended moody atmosphere piece that almost sounds like a musical collage made up of elements from some 70s horror movies. It builds to a crescendo and then we get some tentative drums and droning, like we're sitting near a detuned radio. By the end it's developed into a sort of prog jazz, music concrete freakout. Was very much not expecting this sort of thing but I'm 1000% down for it. "Quills" - Black Thought finds a middle ground here. Neither stumbling forward and outpacing the backing music, nor slowing down for a more contemplative effect. Here he's almost exactly hitting the accented beat when it comes. This feels like him at full power nonetheless, and he loses none of his signature sound. Despite his robocop level endurance, he also doesn't resort to a cold delivery. There's plenty of emotion in every bit of phrase. The instrumentation takes a back seat here, but does so wisely without stealing any heat from the main attraction. "Pussy Galore" - I expected this to be the horniest song on the album, but did not expect the cultural critique that we received. It went down pretty was as it was all under some great instrumentation and more solid ass verses from Black Thought. "Complexity" - Jill Scott features on what is ACTUALLY the horniest track on the album. Though it's 0a very classy, thoutful horniness, one becoming of the inestimable Ms. Scott. A love song for adults. "I let you know I'm here for you, care for you, and confide in you/ Break bread, share with you, and provide for you/ And that's full time, it's no 9 to 5 with you." Made more sultry I think by the music, but a nice pairing. "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" - Amiri Baraka drops some poetry here over top a jazzy downtempo number from the band that gets more energetic and progressive as we go along. I normally don't go in for this sort of thing, but Mr. Baraka and his lively, naturalistic performance, makes it a worthy trip. HIGHLIGHTS - "Sacrifice" - "Rolling with Heat" - "Thought @ Work" - "The Seed (2.0)" - "Break You Off" - "Water" - "Quills" - "Pussy Galore" - "Complexity" MIDLIGHTS - "Rock You" - "!!!!!!!" - "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS This was much better than I expected, and I fully expected it to be pretty solid coming from a band that seems to have out way more than their 10,000 hours in. Seriously - no idea they had been around so long, with their first studio album released in 1993 (!). It was a good mix of rap and soul, with a lot of progressive electronic accents, and even some rock influence. All that said, this was very much a very good journeyman album. I doubt by this stage, the group was even capable of shitting the bed in any sort of meaningful way. Much as I liked the whole experience, there was not a string of songs on here that will stay with me for very long. No all-time barn burners. But that's fine. And it won't keep me from dropping a well-earned 4 on them. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Just the highlights please FURTHER LISTENING - Blowout Comb by Digable Planets - The Ecstatic by Mos Def - Quality by Talib Kweli - Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 by Jill Scott - Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star by Black Star - To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar

I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It was full of easy to grab straightforward hip-hop punctuated by sections of more experimental sounds. You can explore those parts if you want to or just wait around until the rapping returns. Black Thought is a damn dexteritious rapper and when he gets going clear out. His flows are tight, clean, and efficient. And unlike many other rappers, he’s got actual instrumentation behind him, not just a turntable and some samples ( though don’t worry, the Roots didn’t do away with those altogether, there still there). Questlove and the band are providing a sonic playground for Black Thought and the rest to go wild in. The result is an album designed to measure your head. Do you have enough space for The Roots? If not they’re gonna make some. Clear out. Track highlights Rock Out Thought@Work Water Quills

Nope. Not for me. Also, if your album is in this list, but it's mostly collaborations with other artists, you'll get marked down. This was almost entirely collaborations, and was still shit.

Interesting. More than I expected, but a little too much. Not my listen.

Allegedly this is a more difficult and uncommercial album than its predecessor *Things Fall Apart* (which is a formative album for me and an inexcusable omission from this list), yet I don't know where that reputation comes from. Black Thought spends this entire collection making a damn compelling argument that he belongs on the Mount Rushmore of MCs (and I genuinely mean that), while ?uestlove cements his status as hip-hop's musical conscience, with perfect beats, riffs, and collaborators. And all of it is energetic and vibrant and compelling; the only even potentially off-putting thing here is that this a full seven-course meal of music, and even then the energy never flags. The opener "Rock You" references both A Tribe Called Quest and "California Love" within a few bars of each other, as if gathering steam from the past to urge the entire genre forward.

Cuando vi el género y escuché las primeras canciones solo le pedía a Dios que por favor se terminara, pero poco a poco el género de las canciones, e incluso el estilo de canto, cambiaron y a veces no parecía tanto un álbum de hip hop. Me sorprendió para bien.

Just not my genre

Some ok stuff on here but I think my time for hip hop has passed and unless it has a really noticeable melody to it, I'm probably not that interested.

I really like the more experimental tracks on this album. The range on this album is fantastic.

3,1 Highlights: The Seed (2.0), Complexity

It’s not my favorite I’ve heard by any means, but there’s a lot to latch on to on this album. I feel like the beats are all quite interesting, though not necessarily catchy. I don’t hear a bunch of social commentary throughout, which I feel like is a hallmark of a pinnacle rap album. But, there’s musical experimentation (LOVE the end of the song Water), variation, etc. I’ll toss a 6.5/10 out.

walked through the city with this

fuck yes. finally some more hip hop. this album is great, and it's a real breath of fresh air after all the soft rock we've had recently. there's too much good stuff here to list it all, the production and lyrics go hard as hell throughout. i particularly enjoyed the beats on "thought @ work" and "complexity", as well as the back half of "water" where it goes full instrumental and gets straight up scary, but my favourite track is "thirsty!", which feels way ahead of its time with that aggressive techno sound. and i gotta mention the skit at the end of "rolling with heat", that one got my ass. joke that got funnier with age. despite being over an hour long it never feels it. time doesn't matter when the music is this good. it's an easy 5.

00’s Hip Hop ⭐️The Seed (2.0)

Pretty good. These folks are always enjoyable but for some reason I never intentionally seek them out. I saw them at a big festival 10 or so years ago and they were great, but for some reason I never circle back.

Always love The Roots and this is no exception. Don’t know this one that well but it was great!

Really great. The end of the album wasn’t as good as the beginning.

Some solid songs, enjoyed some of the more bluesy influences.

Up and down on this one. Some are good fun, but some just take you out. Only 2 really caught my attention with their respective lyrics and style. Rest was meh

3/5

This has a lot of great tracks and I would definitely recommend this to others. 8/10

Pretty average. Not bad but again I query its inclusion.

‘Phrenology’ doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid. I applaud and appreciate its ambition, but its sprawl and length ultimately work against it for mine. Having said that, I do genuinely like parts of the album. ‘Water’ is probably the most interesting track on here musically, channelling early Funkadelic. ‘Complexity’ featuring Jill Scott, ‘Break You Off’ with Musiq Soulchild and ‘Something In The Way Of Things (In Town)’ are all highlights, and the second half of the album is generally stronger. Overall, I wanted to like this more.

Not my jam but cool oldschool 90s rap

Usually I will only have to listen to an album once before I feel comfortable rating it. I had to give this two plays before deciding how I feel. It's actually pretty good. The samples are cool, and the live drumming gives it a different feel to a lot of hip hop. It's got cross over from neo-soul and rock. Very listenable. It does suffer from being over long, which seems to be a running theme with 2000s rap albums. There seem to be quite a lot of reviews on here from people who simply haven't actually listened, writing it off because it is rap. I can only feel sorry for such people who stubbornly refuse to engage with an entire art form owing to a social bias they have formed. I am not a big hip hop guy by any means, but I try to meet it on it's own terms. Some of it is actually decent. I didn't find any misogyny here, I don't know why so many people think there is.

It's good! The musicality is unmatched.

Cool rap album but I am all ready for whatever pseudo-Chemical Brothers LP the last track was raring to lead into Also ready for a full album dedicated to continuing the stylings of the last half of "Water" although I think people wouldn't rate that very well

really good album. 4 not a 5 cause it wasnt perfext but that makes it better somehow. first time i heard the roots and i thought it would be more “foundational” rap rap and rap but it was so experimental which surprised me so much especially considering the year. good surprise

I don't have a lot to say. This album does some cool stuff

I listened to this album on the morning of a pretty light workday; the change of scenery has made the days feel warmer and more uplifting. I can't believe these guys just become the Jimmy Fallon band, because my word, this album ruled. I immediately noticed the great use of DJ scratches and heavy metallic drums, and the flows throughout the project had a percussive flow that scratched at my brain. And just as I was getting my feet underneath me and setting expectations for the rest of the album, suddenly there's a genre switch to a blistering 20-second punk track, and then another seamless transition back into mellow emotional hip-hop!? I will always respect art that takes weird swings in service of being true to itself, and Phrenology is full of those kinds of bold choices. Another such choice is their reworking of The Seed (a song which I, ironically, only knew from Jimmy Fallon's History of Rap), collaborating with Cody Chestnutt himself to craft something new rather than merely cover the song. I will also always appreciate an appearance from Talib Kweli, one of the earliest rappers I was ever aware of when I was younger. I also love how actively and explicitly The Roots stay in conversation with the history of other hip-hop groups, drawing direct attention to their influences and the lineage which they are paying homage to. Another particular highlight for me was the band's knack for great choruses, which can often be a hurdle for rap albums. It is impressive just how well the wild experimental movements weave in between more traditional songs, and even if the album loses some of the energy I've been vibing with as it gets closer to the end, I am still incredibly glad to have a new appreciation for The Roots. Highlights: Phrentrow, Rock You, !!!!!!!, Sacrifice, Rolling With Heat, Thought @ Work, Thought @ Work, The Seed (2.0), Water, Quills, Rhymes And Ammo

Musically excellent. The eclecticism of it makes it even more appealing.

Surprisingly perfect! I like it! Track Water is super!

I’m biased. I love The Roots. Things Falling Apart is a perfect debut. Have been lucky to see these guys live. Phrenology has plenty of great moments. Maybe not as amazing as their debut, but worthy of a spot on the list. The Seed is a perennial fave.

Favorite track was Break You Off

I don’t know. They do a lot of different genres here (including a psychedelic freakout) pretty well and are clearly adept musicians and performers, but it’s also as a whole too broad and sprawling for me. I enjoyed my listen and am glad I’ve heard it, but I don’t plan on revisiting in full.

It's pretty good, but a little chaotic.

I really liked some of it and I felt meh about the rest. It was a really good rap album that I should probably save for a day that I'm much more in the mood for it. Complex, rich, and oh so well mixed.

Long, kinda boring, a few good grooves

So here's the thing with The Roots - they are all such amazing musicians but I don't like the music they make. This record is mostly fairly straightforward hip hop but includes snippets of other, more interesting styles here and there. I would love to he a jazz record by The Roots. They may well have released one, I can't say I really follow them at all. As for this one, I lost interest quickly and it was much too long. I think that's a product of the time it was released, seems like most records from the late 90s/early 2000s are overly long because they all came out on CD. But imagine if every album ever made had been a double LP - there would have been an awful lot of filler on every record. And a hip hop record like this all blends together for the most part anyway so it just seems to go on and on. I'd like to give an extra star for the musicianship that I know they are capable of but I just can't do it. There was just enough in this that was interesting to not absolutely hate it, but I still wouldn't listen again. 2/5

Illadeph for life. The Seed 2.0 has always been my fave.

Heard The Roots were playing at summerfest. Originally, I didn’t care. But now, I do

Overall, not a bad album, but I do prefer a little bit more melodic songs, although there were a few that were nice. When I first read the name of the band, I realised that it sounds familiar and then I thought of Jimmy Kimmel's band, and yes, it is them. The weird thing is that I've only watched his clips here and there, possibly only a few dozen times, and it seems that I remember it correctly. Anyway, I listened to their top listened song on Spotify and it was actually very nice, and so was the one with most listens in this album.

A cracking album. I own a couple of The Roots albums, but not this one. There were some absolute belters on this album, but a couple of very weird ones too, that felt they didn't belong at all (maybe that was intentional).

Pretty danged good ear-candy! This will require a re-listen to get more of the lyrics.

Vet hip hop album, wel interessant

Very good, 90s feel from a modern album

This didn't do all that much for me, despite recognising the talent of the musicians. The rappers featured here have a good flow. The vocals from the backing singers were soulful when we got them. For the most part, this just sounds like a lot of rap from the era. This was most interesting when they weren't afraid to get experimental. On the 10 minute 'Water', there's a trippy instrumental middle section that gripped me more so than any of the rapping that preceding it. 'Something in the Way of Things (In Town' is a reading of a poem set to an interesting beat and '!!!!!!!' is a straight up hardcore punk interlude. Despite all these little interesting moments popping up throughout the hour-plus runtime, the whole project feels unfocused. This is one of those middle of the road albums that I'm sure we all get throughout this project.

Not for me.

The Seed (2.0) kuullosti tosi tutulta, mutta silti vähän vieraalta. En tiiä onko sitä samplea käytetty jossain toisessa kappaleessa minkä tiiän, mutta en löytänyt. Muuten ihan jees hiphoppia vaikka suurin osa kappaleista ei sillein kauheasti iskenyt. Parhaat: The Seed (2.0), Quills

Rap music is so not my thing

Not a fan of this style of rap. The album started ok and then it headed down real quick, not to mention way too long.

I just don’t

That was kinda cool, although again like most hip-hop albums it's too long. Some of the tracks were solid and made you want to pay attention to the lyrics, others made me wish the song would end immediately. Overall not a terrible experience, didn't really blow me away or love it.

musically I enjoyed the listen. lyrics diminished their sound though.

Jimmy Fallon

Heard Before? Not since it came out. Notes: - sequencing! it's an art, and one that this album exemplifies. everything in the right order, with a near-magical flow between tracks. - it helps that there is a huge variety of sounds and styles, with a well-curated guest roster. - "Water" is quite the centrepiece, with a huge glitch-hop coda. wow. - the conscious-rap lyricism certainly works and is clever and complex in all the right ways, although I'm more of a production person. Verdict: I remembered this as a second string Roots album, behind "Things Fall Apart" and "How I Got Over". But the more I listen to "Phrenology", the more impressed I am. Listen Again? Three times in one day is probably enough for a while. But yes.

Crazy this is the only Roots album on this list. I have no choice but to give this 5 stars then.

It's fine

This slaps. No notes

Well this was a journey. I hated the first four songs of this with a fairly rigorous passion, and then ended up pretty much loving it. Overall, it still skews slightly towards 'noise that I'd rather not have to deal with', but the last few songs really rescued it - probably thanks to Jill Scott's arrival. It might actually be that I listened to the end of it in the car, and there is quite a lot to be said for hip hop in the car, pretending to be cruisin' through the streets of Harlem, rather than Broughton. Also, more albums should end with a totally incongruous bit of deep house.

Pretty standard turn of the century hip hop.