I was in Laughlin Nevada with my grandmother when TFA came out. I was 19. I wanted to buy it on CD, but I would have had to wait three days until I got back home to listen to it, so I bought the cassette so I could listen to it instantly in my grandmother's car. I would sit in her car for literally hours on end playing the album all the way through, then repeat. It is by far the roots most perfect album. nothing skip worthy in the least. I own all five covers on CD, the vinyl, all the singles on vinyl and CD, I have the poster framed (also have DYWM framed too). i even have a promotional CD that has Don't See Us listed under its' original name (Peas & Cues).

To me, TFA is the roots best album title, best album cover (not even arguable), their best singles (next movement/you got me), best videos besides What They Do, best liner notes, and of course, best selling album. I was glad to hear the album finally was certified platinum, altho I feel it should have been platinum same year it came out. I remember being so happy that the album debuted with almost 200,000 copies sold. I also remember watching the grammy's and going nuts when the roots won for You Got Me.

At this point in time, I was a HUGE roots fan. I bought every magazine they were even mentioned in. I went to every single show they did in or near Los Angeles. I've said before that DYWM is my personal favorite roots album, but I need to amend that statement. DYWM and TFA are equally my favorite roots albums. probably always will be. TFA is on that short list of albums where I know every single lyric to every single song.


1. Act Won - Musically, DYWM has my favorite intro, but TFA has the roots best intro. I do happen to love the musical background of Act Won though, just not as much as There's Something Going On.

2. Table of Contents Part 1 - I love how the beat really comes in fully as soon as Black Thought begins rhyming. "...last seven years on tour without resting..." damn Thought killed it.

3. Table of Contents Part 2 - Malik really came into his own on TFA imho. I love both beats, but I prefer Part 2's beat slightly over Part 1's. Malik's verse is almost as dope as Thought's.

4. The Next Movement - Classic. If your head doesn't bob to this shit, you are dead. One of my favorite Roots choruses ever. The video was amazing. The Jazzies are so underrated on this song. Their background singing really fills out the song. and DJ Jazzy Jeff on the cuts?!?!? This song gives me the same feeling that cuts like T.R.O.Y. give me. That giddy, "oh shit this is my joint" feeling. I smile every time this comes on.

5. Step Into the Realm - Another great chorus. Malik continues to excel. The same way that Thought stepped it up from DYWM to IH, Malik stepped it up from IH to TFA imo.

6. The Spark - Got damn this album has nothing but great choruses. Up to this point, Malik owned TFA as far as I was concerned (Thought would take the album back after the Spark tho). Malik has maybe his best line ever "look guy, i walk around a little edgy already..." and a few more great lines...."i didn't make Hajj yet, but that's my next project.." "Impact like a buckle being swung from off a belt." I love how Malik says the ending "This is what its all about..."

7. Dynamite - Woah. That guitar. I do remember people thinking the chorus was "Touch this elephant dynamite.." LOL. I never heard that tho. Thought and Dice kill it. Chorus is simple, but effective. "...two extremes collide like Jekyll and Hyde..." I love how the beat rides out too.

8. Without A Doubt - I love Quest's drums. Love the Schooly D shout out. Dope verses from Thought. The beat that comes 3 minutes in (plus Quest on the vocals) IS MY SHIT!!! "it's the roots crew yall yall yall yall yall..."

9. Ain't Sayin Nothin New - Great background vocals from Dice Raw. Another great chorus. Dice Raw's second verse is his best ever. As dope as Thought is on this, Dice owned this song imho. "shove a mic in your mouth like Ted Dibiase" "But you come out wavin a white flag; that's why I just back slap that ass like Shaq did Ostertag." HAHAHAHAHA that shit was fucking hilarious when it came out. My favorite line from Thought is "No doubt, wherever you dwell, that's where the bomb fell, Exploding from the imperial en-sem-ble, for real."

10. Double Trouble - I would love to hear the version with Kweli, but I'm perfectly happy with Thought and Mos on some Run-DMC back and forth shit. Mos kills it with "I shot the sheriff, the deputy, and head of bank treasury, So mounties in the county got a BIG bounty stressin me..." Great chorus. Mos' outro is hilarious. Hub's bass is sick!

11. Act Too (Love of My Life) - Simply beautiful. Black Thought and Common both spit equally amazing verses. The finger snaps, the bass, the background singing, the chorus, the fucking violins at the end (OMFG). I have a hard time deciding who was doper on this. I love Thought's verse, but I think Common's was slightly more powerful. Seriously, the ending is so sonically beautiful.

12. 100% Dundee - Introduced the word Dundee into a bunch of kids' lexicons, including mine. Rahzel is otherworldly amazing, but Kamal's keys are so fucking underrated. Black Thought murders this song with his opening line, plus "throwing your verse like a javelin," "my man sport the fro like What's Happening," and of course" "lyrically calculus in this arithmetic hip hop metropolis." Again with the dope choruses. Malik is no slouch though. "you ain't a killer when you probably Teddy Ruxpin soft" HAHAHAHAHA

13. Diedre vs. Dice - It is criminal that this wasn't turned into a full song. CRIMINAL.
My only complaint on this whole album. "yall ain't shit but sticky shit on the bottom of timberlands..."

14. Adrenaline - Scott Storch with the dope as fuck keys. Some might say that Beanie killed this, and I understand that feeling, but I always felt that everyone came equally strong on this. Everyone has at least one super quotable line.

15. 3rd Acts - Love how Scratch sounds on this, especially at the end "ahhh"

16. You Got Me - The Classic, and what's dope is it's been changed up a little several times live, and always sounded doper. Would love to hear Eve do her verse live once, but that'll probably never happen (they both were on the same bill together in San Diego years ago, and I thought maybe she'd come out for her verse, but alas she did not). The breaking up of Quest's drums at the end was a brilliant touch.

17. Don't See Us - Love how the drums come in. Love the chorus. Just a great album cut with dope rhymes (thought I think Dice's second verse was the best verse on the song) "i'm not the average savage that curse queens.." I love the guitar work by Spanky. Underrated, but it really fills out the song and gives it it's soul imho.

18. The Return to Innocence Lost - The sound of the typewriter is cool as fuck. I love that. The strings that come in just after the 1 minute mark are so dope. Ursula's best poem. I absolutely love this and thought it was VERY powerful. "mommy's little survivor...like..her."

19. Act Fore - The beginning with Quest and Scratch is hilarious. I love how Scratch speaks. The beat is so tough. One of those perfect "If you can't freestyle to this, you can't freestyle" beats.

"I'm barging in like excuse, I beg your pardon
To crush carbon copy MC's wit clone jargon
Move the crowd to leave the microphone sparkin
Leave you caught inside the lines of my page beneath the margin"




Things Fall Apart is the most impactful album of the late 90's for me. Simply Perfect. Simply Iconic. Not one moment that didn't need to be on the album. I have a hard time listening to single songs off TFA. Soon as I play Next Movement, Ain't Sayin, or Act Too, I gotta play Step Into the Realm, Dynamite, and 100% Dundee. This is the album that gave us Beanie Seigel, Eve, and Jill Scott. The only failure connected to TFA is MCA failing to market and promote this album to 2x platinum status. Plenty of commercially viable singles. It won a fucking grammy. it debuted with i think 189,000 copies sold first week. Should have at least gone platinum within 6 months after debuting like that and being critically acclaimed like a motherfucker. Two retarded chimps could have done a better job than MCA.

In my opinion, TFA losing the Rap Album of the Year Grammy to Eminem's Slim Shady LP was the original Kendrick losing to Macklemore (who i think is dope, but GKMC better). I love the SSLP and it is a dope album, but c'mon son! It ain't no fucking where near TFA. Now, MMLP? That is Eminem's classic to me, and deserved the grammy.