The Roots "How I Got Over" Review

I was introduced to the Legendary Roots Crew in the 90’s and was hooked. The meeting of live instruments with Black Thought’s flow was it for me. This is hip hop in one if its purest forms. The live shows are an experience every music fan should have at least once in life. I must admit I wasn’t feeling the last three cd’s like I thought I would and I was thinking maybe it was due to my musical tastes venturing into other arenas. When I heard “How I Got Over” was due out I got excited like I did for the Phrenology cd back in ’02. so as I saw the track listing my excitement waned some with all the guest appearances. I was being selfish I just wanted Black Thought and band to give me dope music and raw lyrics that made me nod my head.


I take back my reservations about the guest appearances concerning the cd with Phonte (Foreign Exchange and Little Brother) bringing his patent flow to the track “The Day” which may be one of the sleeper tracks of the summer along with Patty Crash and Blu whose hook is in there . “Doing It Again” featuring John Legend was better than expected I have to say Mr. Legend came through on the vocals and Thought, come on you know he did his thing. I am not a big Dice Raw fan but he brought it on “Walk Alone” and “Radio Daze” along with Phonte. “Dear God 2.0” is a must listen to please put your IPod on and just let it take you on a ride. The title track “How I Got Over” is the crews classic sound and Black Thought‘s flow is out of this word he just rides the beat the whole track and the hook fills in perfectly. The surprise track for me was the bonus track “Hustla” with STS had that real hip hop feel and closed out the cd on the right vibe.

Overall The Legendary did their thing but it was too short with all the nonsense out there they could’ve had 12-15 tracks of real hip hop. The Dilla interlude should’ve been an entire song that was just a teaser. This is definitely one for the collection and will help you enjoy the summer that much more. Black Thought is the most underrated MC's of all time for real he needs to be recognized.