From the Library #2: The Roots - Rising Down

The Roots
Rising Down
2008 Def Jam Recordings

Hello, and welcome to the second installment of “From the Library”, where I discuss in-depth a record I’ve taken out of one of my local libraries. In the column’s debut, we took a closer look at Neil Young’s This Note’s for You album. Today, our subject is Rising Down, the 2008 album from rap-rock combo and Jimmy Fallon house band The Roots.

The Roots had been on quite a tear when Rising Down was released towards the beginning of 2008. Since their major label debut, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in 1995, the group had released a string of critical and commercial hits, their popularity continuing to grow with each album. 1996’s Illadelph Halflife, 1999’s Things Fall Apart, 2002’s Phrenology and 2004’s The Tipping Point each built upon the last with continued infectious beats, inventive rhyming, and a growing footprint of a rap group with something to actually say and the talent to back it up.

In 2006, Game Theory was released, which was universally beloved by critics but lacked the head-nodders of those previous records. Instead, it replaced them with a significantly darker and more methodical tone. The music remained strong, but Game Theory threw a curveball to those fans expecting more of what the group had done in the late 90s and early 00s. It wasn’t inviting as those earlier albums had been, and to me, the record was stale in its bleak poignancy and rather unmemorable overall, tempering my excitement for their follow-up, Rising Down.

Rising Down picks up where Game Theory left off, with dark, forceful and direct beats creating an aural minefield towards the beginning of the album. The tone is set by opening track “The Pow Wow”, consisting of audio from a recorded call between group members in which they scream and swear at each other. The title track and “Get Busy” follow, both suggesting that The Roots have not adjusted their attitude from Game Theory; these are angry and urgent songs. Some of the movements suggest music from monster movies, particularly the beat on “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)”.

Rays of light do break through the murkiness occasionally. “Criminal” has terrific moments, boasting an airy beat that mixes well with the unchanged, perennially straightforward rapping. “I Will Not Apologize” continues the slightly lightened mood, and “Unwritten” strikes most similar to the classic atmospheric Roots beats of old.

But those moments are few and far between. Rising Down presents a very gloomy look at the world, and though much of the music is quite good, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by that. Though the entire album is solidly constructed and filled with good music, it becomes difficult to tell one muscularly downtrodden song apart from the others that surround it. I may have been spoiled by those earlier records, whose vibrancy in both music and message radiated from my speakers. Rising Down, for all of its strengths, doesn’t do that.

C+

John Lacey