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The Roots
Game Theory
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By Thomas Golianopoulous
The Roots are mad as hell,and they're not gonna take it anymore.Between 9/11,the war on terror,Hurricane Katrina,stolen elections,steep gas prices,and illegal wire taps,recent events have taken a toll on the Illadelph crew.This rage,coupled with the loss of close friend J DILLA,exhorted them to record their most solemn album yet.Game Theory(or songs numbers 115-127 for you diehards)is a masterfully crafted,sobering wake up call.
After years of dropping interchangeable battle raps and dewy love songs,The Roots reignited flickers of their political fire on their last album,2004's TTP.On songs like "Why(What's Going On)"and "Guns Are Drawn" front man Black Thought took shots at the Bush Doctrine.But in retrospect,their criticisms were tame- like peacenik sit -ins as opposed to the raging protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Game Theory's title track embodies a more uncompromising mood.Over funky keyboard squawks and walloping drums,Thought declares himself"ready for a classic massacre".He's then one-upped in contempt and vigor by returning group member Malik :"Dreams with m16's with infared beams/Blowin up presidents cribs with cans of kerosene/Hijack the limousine with a strategic routine/Then blast my enemies...."
Even the lead single,"don't Feel Right" rages against the machine.After bringing aboard Musiq("Break You Off")and Scott Storch("Don't Say Nothing")to kick start their last two albums,the group spotlights little known singer Miamouna Youssefas as the big guest star this time.And Thoghts subject matter couldn't be less in tune with radio:"I try to school these bucks,but they don't wanna listen/That's the reason the system making this paper from the prison."
"Long Time Coming" documents a similar struggle.Black Thought reminisces about his youth(think Calogero from A Bronx Tale,only with aGamble & Huff soundtrack)and persaverance to succeed:"They swore I'd fall/or be another brick in the wall."
Meanwhile, the band makes sure the instrumentation matches the agitated lyrics.Kamal supplies angry keyboard chords on "Take It There"and Hub's woozy bass accentuates"Living In A New World"paranoia.They really jell,though,on"Here I Come."Guiarist Martin Luther's dizzying ax work gives The Roots swagger they've been missing since 2002's"Thought @ Work"
The exhiliration doesn't last,however.Black Thought rhymes from the perspective of a broken man("As I go through the motions/of medication upping my dosage")on the Radiohead sampling "Atonement".Less succesful is the manufactured tearjerker"Clock With No Arms".Here sappy keys beget sappy opening bars:"Sittin' in the staircase holding back tears,looking over mad years of photographs."Unfrotunately, the emotion is all too real on "Can't stop This," The Roots 8 1/2 minute tribute to Dilla,who died last February after a long battle with lupus.Half way in,rugged drums start up,and Jay Dee is eulogized via a series of answering machine messages.
Like prior Roots albums,Game Theory boasts top notch craftsmanship-mixing and sequencing do count!-but it's continuity that makes this album unique.On "take there" Black Thoght all but sums up the despondent theme:"Life crookeder than a spliff that wouldn't burn right."Wounded by their government,and even more by their own brush with moratlity,The Roots acknowledge that noy all stories have happy endings,and the good guys don't always win.Welcome to the real world
www.scottcc.usana.com
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