Granted, I was a young teenager when The Low End Theory came out, but it seemed like a quantum leap, at least production-wise. There were hip-hop songs that used jazz before. But those tracks sounded like an MC rhyming over a jazz song.
The Low End Theory was the first album that sounded like a jazz act playing hip hop. We've all heard the album so there's no use in highlighting it. But from top to bottom it was a ride few albums in hip hop have taken its listeners on.
I prefer Midnight Marauders, but as far as an artistic statement, The Low End Theory is part of a handful of albums that truly changed how the public appreciates hip hop.
I don't go back to the album much - there's only so much newness to find in an album that I've heard countless times. But when I do, it's always a good time. Makes me appreciate just how talented they were to create something that was both trendsettinga and timeless at such an early age.
I think illadelph halflife is the first example of a trend The Roots would show time after time in their career - metamorphizing their sound and themes from album to album.
It was stunning to hear their sound change from happy-go-lucky kids with a dream to add a unique signature to hip hop to grizzled veterans with a clear vision of a new path they wanted their audience to follow.
There might have been a post not too long ago about an act transforming from album to album. And for all the times The Roots stunned us all by finding interesting threads in the trends of the moment and throwing them on their head, this turn from jazz to heavier themes may be the best executed.
Yes, the band sounded more traditionally hip hop and as a result, dropped some of their zeal to revolutionize their genre. But they took a leap on all fronts - production, lyricism, versatility and realized their potential as artists who can explore any sound and create memorable music from it.
15 remarked that illadelph halflife is the band's stab at capitalizing on the path Wu blazed. And there are similarities there. At least on tracks like It Don't Stop and UNIverse at War. But the band's approach made their sound more of an homage than mimicry. Also, What They Do and Push Up Ya Lighter are distinct enough from anything Wu has done to dismiss any claims The Roots bit Wu's style.
It is similar to The Low End Theory in that IH revolutionized the idea of what a live band could do on record, at least in hip hop.
Thought showed how monstrous he can be. Not that he wasn't stellar through any of the albums. Maybe it stunned me because he displayed a level of skill that was hard to predict solely based from listening to Do You Want More. I'm not a big Common fan but I sense Thought's development was similar to Common's from his first album to his second.
I don't remember much about my personal feelings about the album immediately after its release. I do know I liked all the singles and likely bought it not too long after it dropped.
Do You Want More stood out because the idea of a live band playing hip hop was novel. IH stands out because it did feature live instrumentation, but it was executed at a very high level in a way that few people may have realized was possible.
I haven't gotten back to IH in a long time. I'll probably break it out now.
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
