There is more to hip-hop than two turntables, sampling an old song or flashin’ ice while you’re poppin’ Crissy. The Roots are an actual band, complete with guitars and drums, that has brought an organic form of R&B, hip-hop and soul to the public for almost ten years, and St. Louisans can experience their sound at the Pageant Friday night.
On a tour sponsored by MTV, the Philadelphia-based sextet is promoting their latest album Phrenology, a collection true to their sound that also features rock, punk and techno tracks.
The Roots grab you right off the bat with “Rock You,” an intense rap that relies on heavy beats and quick rhymes. The tone does not slow down with “!!!!!!!,” a 24-second punk track that carries the same vibe as songs found on the Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head and Ill Communication.
Phrenology also features several collaborations with artists from the spheres of hip-hop and soul. Nelly Furtado supplies background vocals on the melodic “Sacrifice,” while Musiq performs the refrain to “Break You Off,” the band’s first single off the album.
The Roots’ drummer ?uestlove and neo-soul prodigy Cody Chestnutt co-produced a remake of “The Seed,” which was originally performed on Chestnutt’s 2002 CD, The Headphone Masterpiece. “The Seed (2.0),” as it is found on Phrenology, makes an addition to the original by laying down a rap between Chestnutt’s vocals, giving the album an edgy ’70s soul-and-funk vibe mixed with old-school hip-hop.
Jill Scott also makes an appearance on the album, providing the vocals for “Complexity,” a slow-flowing mix of soul and rap. However, the human beat box Rhazel takes the band in a whole new direction when in a final bonus track. Rhazel’s voice creates a portion of the base line in Phrenology’s hidden track that is actually found on the album in negative minutes of the 18th track.
Phrenology is the band’s first album since the release of 1999’s The Roots Come Alive, a live album from New York City. The band also released Things Fall Apart that same year, which featured “You Got Me,” a collaboration with Erykah Badu.
The band’s first mainstream album was released in 1996 with Illadelph Halflife, which carried the hypnotic track, “What They Do.”
Tickets for The Roots’ show this Friday are available at the Pageant or online. Tickets for the all ages show are $18.50 with a $2 surcharge for minors. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.
