Favorites from The Roots, Part I

So The Roots are one of my favorite hip-hop groups. I've decided to choose some of my favorites from their debut, Organix. Their debut didn't sell well and was distributed by the band itself in the early 1990s. The title refers to their use of live instrumentation and is more of a jazz-rap album than any other album from The Roots. The use of acoustic bass, occasional swing, jazzy keyboards and a horn or two in some of the songs demonstrate their love for jazz. However, due to the low amounts of improvisation, The Roots sound more like a jazzy funk band with rappers. Anywho, the album as a whole is one of their weakest and definitely not the album to recommend to a friend who's never heard The Roots or any other jazz-rap of that era, such as Digable Planets.

"Pass the Popcorn" is a good song. Good bassline, funky keys and drums, but the repetitive chorus definitely takes it down a few levels. Like a lot of songs on their early albums, they repeat the chorus WAY too much and it gets very annoying to hear Black Thought and company repeat the same thing over and over again. 

Another good song from their debut is "The Anti Circle" because of the funky bass and good beat. The bassist also quotes a classical song in his solo about 2:30 into the song. But once again, it's marred by repetitive lyrics.

"Good Music" is also worth hearing. The jazzy keys are interesting, the funky bass and electric guitar also work well.

"Grits" is also worth hearing. The keyboardist plays some hooks from a famous jazz hit, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Cannonball Adderley and Questlove swings hard.

Here's the Cannonball Adderley song which possibly influenced The Roots

"Popcorn Revisited" has a nice bassline that was unfortunately already used on 'Anti-Circle' but this song is better than "Pass the Popcorn" despite the lack of originality. 

 

"The Session (The Longest Posse Cut in History)" is an interesting posse cut. I enjoyed the jazzy beats but I don't think it warranted a nearly 13-minute long song. Also, I have no idea who the other rappers are, but they're presumably underground Philadelphia rappers from the early 1990s. Here's a 10-minute version for youtube