This may take a few days to sink in. At first, I'm slightly underwhelmed, but I was the same way with "Game Theory," and that grew on me massively and might be my favorite Roots album now.

My biggest issue is that I played "Rising Down," "Get Busy" and "75 Bars" to death (my fault, admittedly) so I skip those for now.

Now, for the meat and potatoes:

- "Criminal" - Lord do I love this song. Everything is perfect. The beat is sick, everyone rips there verses. It's lovely.

- "I Will Not Apologize" - Perfect in any way. I wish The Roots used horns in their studio songs more, but this shit is perfect. What a tribute to Fela.

- "Unwritten" - Man, do I wish this song was longer. Mercedes is majestic on it. I wish this wasa full song.

- Porn rips the shit out of every verse. Now I see why HOV was so interested in him.


In general, I just love the communal feel of the album (having Malik and Dice, plus plenty of guests), a feeling that hasn't been this fully realized since "things fall apart" and "illadelph halflife" (it was partially renewed in "game theory."

It'll definately stay in my car and iPod for the next few months. By then I'll be able to REALLY judge where this album stands for me.