Product Description

Hip-hop is about presence. Whether party- or street-oriented, it tends to keeps its listeners firmly centred in their own skin: hands in the air, guard your grill, watch your back. In spite of the blunted ethos of the late '90s and the emergence of trip-hop, it's a rare hip-hop record that causes your eyes to go out of focus and your brain to operate freelyin that space that makes us describe music as "deep".
THINGS FALL APART achieves that distinct sort of transcendenceperhaps because it is not trying to save, reinvigorate, or resurrect the artform. As the title (taken from Chinua Achebe's novel on the loss of traditional African culture during colonisation) suggests, the record takes the death of hip-hop as its starting point. Where earlier Roots albums capturedthe live feeling of the open mic/jam sessions for which they are now internationally famous, TFA adds a newer wrinkle of arrangement and studio mastery. The layers and echoes occasionally (as on "100% Dundee") give you the sensation that you're wandering through one of those jam sessions in a detached, even feverish state--a perfect snapshot of hip-hop on the eve of the millennium.

Track Listing

1. Act Won (Things Fall Apart)
2. Table Of Contents (Parts 1 & 2)
3. The Next Movement - DJ Jazzy Jeff, Jazzyfatnastees, The Roots
4. Step Into The Relm
5. The Spark
6. Dynamite!
7. Without A Doubt
8. Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New
9. Double Trouble
10. Act Too (Love Of My Life)
11. 100% Dundee
12. Diedre Vs Dice
13. Adrenaline - The Roots, Dice Raw, Beanie Sigel
14. 3rd Act: ? Vs Scratch 2...Electric Boogaloo
15. You Got Me - The Roots, Erykah Badu
16. Don't See Us
17. The Return To Innocence Lost
18. Act Fore (...)Table Of Contents Part 2

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8974 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 70 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Very few hip-hop groups make it to their fourth full-length recording, and perhaps only the Roots have made it to that level while still ascending. Although lyrical and musical vision is sorely lacking from most hip-hop (as Puff and Master P have proved, vision isn't necessary to bum-rush the mainstream goldmine), such qualities are cornerstones of the Roots' music. Their second recording, 1995's Do You Want More?, and its follow-up, 1996's Illadelph Halflife, intelligently linked hip-hop to its musical forebears funk and jazz, and their lyrics provided unique, post-nationalist hip-hop critiques. On Things Fall Apart (named for the Chinua Achebe novel) the sextet takes on a more sombre tone, but at no cost to their musical innovations. "If we had to depend on black people to eat, we'd starve to death," says Denzel Washington, sampled from Mo' Better Blues, at the outset of the recording. It's not self-pity--rather, the group frequently returns to the theme of how many African Americans confuse uniformity with unity. Musically, the group is at its best with guests such as Mos Def and Talib Kweli from Black Star contributing some old-school fun and technique to "Double Trouble". Erykah Badu's supple vocals on "You Got Me" are offset by innovative percussion, including an organically developed jungle beat. At a point when most rappers are running on fumes, the Roots are synthesising new ideas. --Martin Johnson

Customer Reviews

The Roots-Things Fall Apart
This album is just unbelievable.It is in the top two of the roots albums because I cant descide which is better,this or The Tipping Point.I have six roots albums,I dont have come alive.I have organix and it is really good but not as good as there others.Things fall apart is definetly one of there most "complete" albums because it has everything:great lyricism from both thought and malik,great beats with brilliant production and instrumental beats.My favourite tracks are:the next movement,step into the realm,dynamite!,aint sayin nuthin new,act too(the love of my life),100% dundee,adrenaline! and you got me.These are most of the songs on the album so it shows you how good this album is,no album fillers.The roots are one of the best hip hop groups ever just buy this album and you will end up buyin all of there albums.

pure dynamite
I´ve just started listening to this again after not touching it for a couple of years and I´m pleased to say it´s still sounding as good as ever.
This did extremely well at the time of it´s release and although The Roots never really hit the commercial big time it brought the group a lot of plaudits from all corners of the music business. It´s curious because as hip-hop fans will know this group and it´s leader have been around for many years but for me this album is the first in which the group really manage to harness all their musical talents. What I like about this lot is that they are actually a band. An MC, a drummer, a bassist and the insane Rahzel with his stratching noises. It makes the tunes come to life and their sound isn´t as processed as other hip-hop acts. This album triumphs because it explores a number of different styles and structures from the bouncing R/B feel of,"The next movement," to the intense,"step into the realm," and free flowing,"Dynamite,"
My favourite track has to be,"nothin new," I love the passion of the lyrics and the sense of rhythm of the rap. Another favourite is the high octane,"Andrenaline," a live classic.
"The love of my life," is a beautifully understated track about the love of the art form. Perhaps the most commercially successful track from the album was,"You got me," although I don´t rate it so highly listening to this the second time around.
The Roots have gone on to make more fine music to prove this wasn´t just a flash in the pan but it remains for me their finest work.

Oh My Gosh!!!
I've been listening to The Roots for awhile and have only just read the reviews. This is one of the best albums I've EVER had the pleasure of owning/listening to! I bought it when it first came out and am still listening to it today, I never get bored of it and it never feels outdated!Seriously this is heavy heavy music and i'm someone that has listened to hip hop from waaaay back in the day. If you haven't already got it...BUY IT!!!