Link: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-etledew3888977jul13,0,6253752.column?coll=ny-music-columnists
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The Roots rip apart rap for rap's sake


The Roots are ready to rumble.

On "Don't Say Nuthin," the Philadelphia- based quartet's current single, it throws down against the seemingly endless parade of gangsta rap wannabes.

First, it rolls out a gritty, hard- edged beat that most could only dream of. Then, rapper Black Thought spits a torrent of nonsense, linking together gangsta cliches into a verse before mumbling through a chorus where the only recognizable words are "Give it here," "Cut the check" and "Don't say nuthin." By the end, Black Thought offers a warning to the here-today- gone-by-lunch hitmakers: "I'll still be on the ground when it all collapse and if it's mine, worth buying, I'm gonna take it right back."

After years of being hip- hop's biggest paradox - a critically acclaimed, successful live act that has yet to deliver blockbuster sales - The Roots have launched their most direct bid for an across-the- board hit in years with their new album, "The Tipping Point" (Geffen). The band has long been the genre's most-admired act, applauded for bringing the rock-band, live-instrument aesthetic to the world of rap stars. Now, it is trying to get its anti-bling message to a broader audience.

Of course, that doesn't mean The Roots will change that message. For example, "Guns Are Drawn" has Black Thought rapping about how American civil liberties are threatened by the Patriot Act, while drummer ?uestlove serves up another laid- back groove. Throughout "The Tipping Point," The Roots take on the war in Iraq, the Bush administration and general apathy, while celebrating those who hold down tough, legitimate jobs, and urging the working class to keep its head up. The band also continues to meld jam-band rock and hip-hop, as it did in its recent "Phrenology" album, with the 10-minute "Melting Pot" jam and the eight- minute, freestyle "Outro."

However, "The Tipping Point" is meant to show how today's hip-hop can have substance and style, which The Roots prove over and over again. Now, it's a matter of taking that case to the people.

-- Glenn Gamboa

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The age of the ignorant rapper is done: http://www.regeneratedheadpiece.com

"One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died. I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him. I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher. I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand and he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like a infantile retard." -- Mike Tyson