that is, I discovered pretty early on in the review process that if you made a playlist consisting of the album played in CD sequence followed by in storyline sequence, it became a sort of remarkable existential experience.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/152037-the-roots-undun/

"Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves started with the death of it’s main character Tariq, but followed with a chronological story of how he arrived there. The Roots have decided to Memento the experience, doing everything backward. They’ve also stipulated that every voice on the record is inside Redford’s head, delivering different interpretations of the events and ideas leading to his death much as a person’s brain plays against itself. But what’s really interesting, to me, is what happens when you play the album itself backwards, essentially forcing the story to play chronologically. In both formats, the album begins with the protagonist asleep, on one end a physical death (“Redford Suite”) and on the other metaphorical (“Dun”). In either format, “Lighthouse” and “The OtherSide” act as guiding lights for the character; in reverse, “Lighthouse” finds Redford adrift in the ocean of urbanity, anticipating his demise with “The OtherSide” revealing his welcoming attitude towards death (a theme throughout the record).

If heard according to the tracklist, the inversion of these concepts makes equal sense, with Redford wondering what the worth of life is before finding himself facing an appraisal soon after. Many of the songs work this way, playing dual roles depending on what order you choose to experience them, and it makes for a really interesting album. The best expression of this duality is in the “Redford Suite”, which can be heard as either: A) Redford’s soul leaving his body and ascending / descending (the third and fourth movements seemingly leave this up to the listener to decide) to its destined spiritual resting place or B) the tumultuous nature of Redford’s dreams, from which he awakens to the daily stress of having two brothers, one dead and one incarcerated who anticipates Redford’s joining him soon."


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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
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