Redford Reviews: The Roots, ...and then you shoot your cousin, Album Review

Author's Note ...and then you shoot your cousin is the fourteenth studio effort by The Roots, and the concept-album sequel to 2011's magnificent undun. The Roots are a neo-soul/meta-hip/hop-rap/prog rock (??? how do YOU define The Roots? Tell me in the suggestions below!) band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots currently consist of founders Black Thought and Questlove, keyboardist Kamal Gray, Questlove protégé and percussionist Frank "Knuckles" Walker, Guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas, sousaphonist Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson, Keyboardist James Poyser, and electric bassist Mark Kelley. This album was described by Black Thought as a satirical look at violence, hip-hop, and American society on the whole. The title comes from a KRS-ONE lyric from "Rapture's Delight." There are plenty of features on this album, from Raheem Devaughn, to Michel Chion, to Mary Lou Williams, to guest rapping regulars Dice Raw and Greg Porn, and several others. Now that you have some background, I present the review, enjoy! Track #1: "Theme From Middle of the Night" (performed by Nina Simone) Rating: 6/10 This track is an excellent opener for this album. The eerie strumming and faraway voice set a quiet and mysterious tone for the album, while the lyrics and vocal range offer a more satirical, robust note. Both of those tones are very prevalent throughout the whole album. Nina Simone's creepy-while-somehow-soothing voice is a perfect paint for the canvas that the string-heavy beat provides. A very well-done track, however, in the end it is still just a spoken-word poem over a mellow beat. That's not to say the poem isn't elegant, and the beat not sonically pleasing, but it is no more than a 6/10 Track #2: "Never" feat. Patty Crash Rating: 9/10 This track right here is what will draw you into this album, from which there is no escape until the last track ends. First, the hook: the hook is performed by Icelander in Philadelphia, Patty Crash. The pop-singer has a very childish and cutesy voice with lots of whimsicality. At first, the reason for her voice on this track was unclear to me, but as the track progressed I realized why: "All I know is what I know I woke with a tear drop" This addition to the hook, performed as an outro explained the reason for Patty, to me. Not many singers can pull off the childish anguish required to sing this part of the hook passionately Then comes the rapping. Black Thought delivers a fiery and, of course, lyrical verse here. Black experiments with some new flow and vocal distortion which I am impartial to, although don't quite understand the reason for it. We also get more wonderful technicality from Black that we all love. His ability to carry one rhyme scheme for 5-6 lines is still sharp as a tack, even at age 42. Favorite line: "Life is a bitch and then you live Until one day by death you're found" Lastly, the instrumentation. The track starts with a few dissonant drum beats, succeeded by an angelic and grandiose choir over a sparing piano line. That involves into a more complex piano line, backed now by the chorus and a gentle cymbal drum beat, which cuts to complete silence by the end of the hook, leaving only Patty singing. After the hook there's a gentle bass line and some string plucking followed by more eerie plucking (like on track 1) and dissonant noises. Black rhymes over a sparing bass line and gentle cymbal and bass drum beat. The song closes with Patty's outro with some high-pitched noises that echo Patty's singing perfectly. The production started out very emotional and elegant, and in my opinion deteriorated once the verse started, then picked up by the outro Perhaps my favorite part of this track: the message. I picture "Never" as a character looking down at his past life. How he will "Never" be able change or reconcile, and what will "never" be. It's a powerful message, and The Roots are able to illustrate it subtly, making them the best conscious act in Hip-Hop, in my opinion Track #3: "When the People Cheer" feat. Modesty Lycan & Greg Porn Rating: 7/10 This track introduces a piano-heavy beat—one of many to come. It also has another youthful-sounding singer, Modesty Lycan, on the chorus. This time, however, I do not see any ulterior motive for this musician, especially after the track before this having being Patty Crash. Does the hook bother me enough to greatly affect my views of this song? Of course not, but this song did have room to improve there The verses again are subject to pitching and distortion, but they are very high quality verses. They are sonically pleasing and are filled with wordplay and substance, so the fact that part of Greg Porn's voice is distorted detracts very little. More flows are experimented by Black Thought, but once again he delivers a very high-caliber verse, as usual. I give the best verse on this track to Black. While Porn's verse did deliver and sounded excellent, Black's was longer and had some favorite lines like this: "And then she gives me lap dances and I’m thankful that She keeps providing the place for me to be unfaithful at…" "Molly poppin’, trolley hoppin’ Know somebody prolly watchin’ That ain’t stoppin’ me from coppin’ a feel Karate choppin’ in this after-hours spot Watching mommy body rockin’" The instrumentation, while minimalistic and piano-heavy, the moving piano line offers another playful-while-sorrowful tone, like the sound of the first track. But compared to "Never", the production here is much less grand. The message here is nothing too spectacular either. It deals with lust and addiction, especially with drugs and sex. I think it represents the moral deterioration of society Track #4: "The Devil" Performed by Mary Lou Williams Rating: 8/10 If you're wondering where the satire is, you've found it! This is the first time ever that a track from The Roots made me laugh, and a refreshing break from all the seriousness of the conscious rap we heard earlier. The voice of Mary Lou is one that you simply cannot resist singing along to in a ridiculously goofy imitation. The ominous choral backings and creepy piano are cheesy, but in the best way possible Track #5: "Black Rock" feat. Dice Raw Rating: 9/10 This track is very grimy and raw. There is a very special bonus with this track, Dice Raw singing! He is a great hook singer with a soulful voice. His verse is not too extensive though, so I would have to give best verse to Black Thought. This is straight up Black Thought, Black Thought aggression, flow, and lyricism, and it's awesome. Delivers a killer verse with one of my favorite lines from the song: "So love no bitch, die richer than language Guilty of sin depending on the reeds shaking in the wind" There isn't much to the instrumentation besides a nice, but grimy jazz piano riff with robust drums and a catchy guitar riff. Although a majority of the instrumentation is sampled, I don't mind. Sampling is a pivotal aspect of hip-hop and I often wonder myself what certain rock beats would sound like with some rapping over it I really like the message of this song: the desolation of living on a "black rock"; in the hood. My brother told me "it's kinda weird to think of The Roots as a gritty, from-the-streets act now that they're with Fallon, huh?" But for me, The Roots still illustrate the societal problems of hood life and poverty beautifully Track #6: "Understand" feat. Dice Raw & Greg Porn Rating: 10/10 Welcome to the first 10/10 track! I love this track. The soulful organ and clapping beat is such a refreshing change from the piano-heavy tracks of pretty much all the others. The electro-bass line that wobbles up and down is also very playful and contrasts the soulfulness of the organ well Dice Raw is on another hook, although that is more like a spoken-word hook than a singing one. Black Thought and Greg Porn both have incredibly killer verses, but I give the edge to Porn here. My favorite lines from Porn's verse were: "I pray, I pray, all thugs go to heaven Or to a new hell with a Wi-Fi connection So I can pay for my sins on PayPal Or own a holy ghost, a greyhound" And Black had a great opening to his verse: "Gravedigger, dig a hole that fit a black nigga My body's stiff as a Madame Tussaud's wax figure My transformation: a caterpillar from crack dealer" Both of these rappers are phenomenal and do a phenomenal job of conveying the messages, and I believe the message here has to do with sins and atonement. Porn shows the mentality of a "thug"; that they can just buy their way out of their sins, because that's what solved all their earthly problems. His lines show little remorse for his sins whatsoever. Black's verse has to do with violence, and how violence led him nowhere; "I was a shot away, but I never got away." He had a chance at heaven, but missed it because he led a life of violence The hook also leaves a lot of thoughts in my mind. Could this mean that people are scared of their sins, or were thinking of god the wrong way the whole time? I'm not too sure, but whenever I heard this hook, for some reason, I remember a particular Calvin and Hobbes strip... Track #7: "Dies Irae" Performed by Michel Chion Rating: 5/10 I get avant-garde, but this is a little too avant-garde for me. The Roots have always had that boho aspect to them, and this reminds me of Phrenology, The Roots's most boho project, in my opinion. There's not much going on here but dissonance and some shouting. I can only conjecture on the meaning of this: my guess is that this is an instrumentation of someone getting shot, kinda like how "Dun" on the last album was an instrumentation of someone dying. It makes sense too, because in "The Coming" Mercedes sings about, what I think, is the death of someone Track #8: "The Coming" Mercedez Martinez Rating: 5/10 This is my least favorite track on this album. It is well put together and all, I just don't think that this album needs yet another piano heavy, cutesy sung, distorted track. The message is actually kinda cool, however. I see it as a little girl heard a gunshot (this relates to "Dies Irae" in my opinion) and she closes her eyes, but because she's already so familiar with death and gunshots, she doesn't have to imagine what has happened. It's a somber story, but other than relating to "Dies Irae" (which is just my guess), I don't quite see why this album needs another one of these tracks Track #9: "The Dark (Trinity)" feat. Greg Porn & Dice Raw Rating: 10/10 Welcome to the second, and sadly, last, 10/10 of this album This track starts with a few echoing piano chords, then accompanied with a pretty simple drum snare beat: a nice, laid-back, common time production that really allows the listener to really focus on the rapping, until the string break comes in And the rapping certainly delivers each part. Three rapping lyricists, each with a different flow and messages. The most popping verse is Dice Raw's. This is mainly because of the aggression and intensity. At the start of his verse, I couldn't even recognize it was Dice because of the intensity he brought. The most lyrical verse is probably Greg Porn's, and the most technical and downright dangerous verse has to be Black's. That makes this a trifecta, a "trinity", of lyrical prowess and social and musical consciousness My favorite lines from this song: "Ain't nobody tell you clowns to speak I'mma AK you down the street Draw that bump that's built for the riots See how quiet y'all can keep" (Black Thought) I like to think of these lines as subliminals for violence in hip-hop; how rappers often use violence to build up their image or personal "It's a phrase they say in the streets when the young players meet: Get rich or die trying But the funny thing about that phrase to me Is that these little niggas be lying" "Yeah I sold crack to get my soul back They say it’s gonna cost a fortune And I wonder if Allah take debit? ‘Cause a nigga got real bad credit" (Dice Raw) This line is a really strong one. It shows how much money is emphasized in society and how everyone's goal is to make it, no matter what, even if they don't know how. He mocks materialism and lust for money in a very lyrical way, with some satire, of course "The world ain’t ready for someone like me And life is sex, stress, drama and I’m hookin out 3 I’d rather O.D. than be the next O.G Than fronting for a whore that already chose me" (Greg Porn) Greg is using a very lethargic and dragging flow here. Some satire is definitely in these lines that I picked out here. Porn tells us the world isn't ready for him, but then goes on to rap about his weaknesses with drugs and alcohol. This seems like more popular hip-hop mocking; how rappers will talk about abusing all types of drugs, but still act fearsome All three verses do have shots at mainstream materialism too. I think that's what makes this song great: all the popular flows and cadenzas used, the materialism and mocking, and violence in hip-hop. It really shows that The Roots are not only socially conscious, but at the same time, hip-hop conscious as well Track 10: "The Unraveling" feat Raheem DeVaughn Rating: 7/10 This track starts with a very, very deep bass and some drums with an echo effect on them. Then, a wandering piano line played in a minor key joins in on the production. It is a very melancholy and somber start of the track, but easy to listen to Raheem sings a very soulful hook, with great meaning to it. I think the hook is about a character that either is literally dead, or figuratively feels dead; unraveled. Whatever the case is, this character feels like he or she is at death's door, and at the end of it all, feels relieved. There's no regret in this song: "Free of my sins today." And then Black comes in and delivers the final verse of the album. It is short, but it is one of my favorite verses on the whole album: "What did the thief say onto the hanging man? 'Here come the hounds, lay your burdens down in advance'" "Free at last!, free at last! A different me at last Scattered like an ash, or history that's past Came from nowhere, disappear just as fast" These are honestly some of the most powerful lyrics on this album, how the thief stole the life and how the character finally feels free in death, how the only liberty in his or her life come's at their last moment of life. What a chilling set of lyrics! However, this song is plagues by boringness. The piano line and simple drum beat are pretty much all the production this track has to offer, and that carries on for over four minutes. I think this song could have been better if it was shorter, I feel the return to the beat after Raheem's outro was kinda unnecessary. It could represent the rebirth of the character, but it just dragged out the song for me Track 11: "Tomorrow" feat Raheem Devaughn Rating: 8/10 This, sadly, is the conclusion to ...and then you shoot your cousin. And this conclusion actually comes as quite a pleasant surprise for me. Especially following the sobriety and melancholiness of the last track, I can't help but to be surprised at the jazzy piano line and whistling melody. I say pleasant, because it is! After an album full of drear and criticism for society, it was very refreshing to hear the soulful voice of Raheem Devaughn serenade this upbeat production with some very optimistic lyrics "Some say that happiness will never find you Until you find yourself Some say that happiness is all around you It ain't how you measure your wealth No, I say it's free to be yourself We all fall short sometimes It costs nothing It costs nothing, to help sometimes" This kind of optimism was nowhere to be found on all the previous tracks, and I love it. The message here does not come off as corny whatsoever, and it is a truly uplifting track, I cannot think of a better ending myself. But that's the genius of The Roots; you never know what to expect. I must say, however, after about three-and-a-half minutes, the track did get sort of boring, but beautiful, cantabile piano finish revived it I think that "Tomorrow" and "The Unraveling" are meant to go together. The drum beats are almost the same (at least to my ears), and the mood of the track is ultimately determined by the piano, one is a minor key piano, and the other is a more jazzy, major key riff. Both are sung by Raheem, both sung in different moods and tones. "The Unraveling" talks about finding freedom, and rebirth, then "Tomorrow" picks up from that theme and adds gratefulness and appreciation for life. The way I see it, is that, the character in both of these tracks is the same. In "The Unraveling" he or she is at death's door, but somehow survives, and has a whole new perspective on life, described in "Tomorrow." .. Final Grade: 8.6/10 Post Script Let me know what you thought of my review and this album in the suggestions below! Thank you so much for reading!