Rising Down The Roots Raritan
Jul 22, 2008 download this track for free from the roots - Rising Down (Feat. Mos Def and - Rising Down.
It would've been easy for to sell out. Already one of the few groups whose fans extend beyond the typical alternative rap base, tacking on the acoustic-guitary pop-rap song 'Birthday Girl' - which leaked the month before 's release and features crooning 'What is it we want to do, now that I'm allowed to be alone with you?' - could've been a natural, and maybe even excusable move.
Rising Down The Roots Lyrics
Excusable as a way to show that can be lighthearted, fun, and tongue-in-cheek (though anyone who's heard any of their interviews or has frequented?uestlove's blog already knows this to be true); not excusable, however, as the crossover track the label wanted it to be (and in fact, in Japan and Europe, as well as digitally, it remains as such). Fortunately, were smart and thoughtful enough - the very qualities of whose criticism led to the creation of 'Birthday Girl' - to realize that its inclusion, even as an afterthought, a bonus track, was detrimental to the effect of the entire album, dumbing down their thoughts on poverty and race and politics with poppy melodies and creepy (albeit ironic) jokes about statutory rape and predatory old men. Because as it stands, acts as a powerful statement on contemporary society, a society in which even though the specific issues may have changed (global warming, BET, new technologies), the problems remain the same. For this reason the album begins and ends with a discussion from 1994, where and?uestlove are arguing about then-label Geffen with their managers, and other bits of the past are also spread throughout - the 1987 freestyle '@15,' which complements '75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction),' the reflection found in 'Unwritten' and especially in the cover itself, which nods to the crude caricatures from early America, the black devil wreaking havoc on the white pilgrims below. But it is these very reminders that make and their message in 2008 so much more relevant: they give context.
So when says 'It is what it is, because of what it was/I did what I did 'cause it does what it does' in 'Criminal,' he's not just looking as his character's current situation, he's drawing from history, and his conclusions are based upon lifetimes of 'it being it' and 'doing what it does,' of struggling and fighting and trying to get by, to make it however he can. These same thoughts are echoed by ' MC and the myriad talented guests who add their own equally hard-hitting verses to the album's tracks. 'My life is on a flight that's going down/My mother had an abortion for the wrong child/.I felt love, that's gone now' rhymes in the disquieting 'I Can't Help It' (the other rappers on the song tackle ideas of chemical and monetary addictions), while on 'Singing Man,' the dark, reticent production gurgles with the pain and anger heard and stated more overtly in the three MCs' voices (, and ) as they present the sympathetic - but not condoning - perspectives of suicide bombers and campus shooters and child soldiers. It's dark and serious and intense, but does offer hope, too, mostly in the form of the closing track, 'Rising Up,' which features Def Jam backing vocals queen, D.C. Upstart, and a -friendly beat. 'We 'bout to dominate the world like did it,' says to end the song, an optimism that's far more powerful than anything 'Birthday Girl' can provide.
Those words, confident but not cocky, are the final punctuation - an ellipsis, though, leading to a yet-completed thought - on an album that's both revelatory and full of questions, an album that understands its spot in ' history and American history, and an album that continues to place the group as one of the country's most talented and relevant in any genre, no calculated crossover necessary.
Rising Down by Released April 28, 2008 Recorded 2006-2007, Length 47: 14 Tahir Jamal, Khari Mateen, Richard Nichols (exec.), The Roots, (exec.) chronology (2006) 2006 Rising Down (2008) (2010) 2010 Rising Down is the eighth by American band, released April 28, 2008 on. The album's title is adapted from 's book (2004).
Expanding on the dark, dense production and political tone of (2006), Rising Down features lyrical themes concerning issues of contemporary society, including violence, poverty, social and environmental climate, drugs, police corruption, and the music industry. The album debuted at number six on the US chart, selling 54,000 copies in its first week. It charted modestly in other countries and achieved moderate sales success. Upon its release, Rising Down received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Music critic named it the ninth best album of 2008. The album has sold 171,000 copies in the United States.
Contents. Music According to the band's producer, Rising Down 'is an electric record, more synthy.
The darks are darker and the lights are lighter. But all I know is making quality hip-hop stylistically. We tried to do something we never did before. Kamal had to be the sacrificial lamb this time.
The one instrument that has defined the Roots has been the Fender Rhodes. This is the first year he's had to change his instrumentation and try other sounds out. We have a bunch of keyboards and synthesizers we're using on this record.
It feels like the musical equivalent of 'Blade Runner' sometimes. We've also added a horn section.' The album's themes are dark, as on the preceding, with Questlove referring to this album as 'the most incendiary, political album of our career to date.' In the same interview, he explains: 'Add up the crime and high school drop-out rates in Philadelphia, plus being in your mid-30s and working 300 nights a year and this being an election year — yeah, all that’s what this album’s about.” The album's title comes from 's 2004 book Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means. Similar to the book, the role of in human society is a central theme on the overtly political album; the album's political message reflects the violence in The Roots' home city of Philadelphia.
The album contains a large number of guest vocalists, particularly in comparison to previous Roots albums. The album features many of the same guest vocalists as Game Theory., P.O.R.N. And Mercedes Martinez all make repeat appearances. Rapper appears on the album, following an invite stemming from a Black Thought-tribute track called 'Work' featured on his mixtape. Other notable emcees making appearances on the album include members, and, as well as and. Singles The first track leaked from the album was '75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)', was posted on on 22 February 2008. The first single was initially confirmed as 'Birthday Girl', which features 's, and which leaked via, a song described by as 'An easy pop song'.
However, the song has gone from single to being an iTunes exclusive (bonus track), because the song didn't fit with the album's motif. “It was just sticking out like a sore thumb.Then we were going to have a 'halftime' thing where it was gonna come in the middle of the record as a break from the political thing, but that didn't work, either. Then we tried to make it the last song on the record, and that wasn't working. Then we tried to make it the hidden track, and that wasn't effective. Basically the album was complete; it starts with 'Rising Down' and it ends with 'Rising Up,' so that makes more sense to me.'
'Birthday Girl' has been included as a bonus track on iTunes and some international versions of the album, along with 'The Grand Return' Reception Commercial performance Rising Down was released April 28, 2008 in the United Kingdom and April 29, 2008 in the United States on. The album debuted at number six on the US chart and became the highest-selling hip hop album of its debut week, with first-week sales of 54,000 copies. It spent five weeks on the Billboard 200. The album also entered at number one on 's, ultimately spending 12 weeks on the chart, and at number three on, ultimately spending 22 weeks on the chart, Internationally, the album peaked at number 95 in France, at number 34 in Norway, at number 10 in Switzerland, and at number 14 in Canada. As of October 2009, Rising Down has sold 171,000 copies in the United States. Critical response Professional ratings Aggregate scores Source Rating 80/100 Review scores Source Rating A B− 7.8/10 8/10 Rising Down received positive reviews from most. At, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an score of 80, based on 27 reviews, which indicates 'generally favorable reviews'.
Writer Marisa Brown gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that it 'acts as a powerful statement on contemporary society'. 's Hsu Hua commended its concise production and called it 'an excellent, punchy album full of youthful swagger and anything-goes experimentation'. Tom Horan of cited Rising Down as 'the best album of their long career'. Writer lauded the album's socially conscious themes and viewed its sound as 'bleaker, grimier and harder-edged' than The Roots' earlier work. Will Dukes of complimented its socially relevant themes and called the album 'a thematically, unified, musically propulsive statement about the decline of contemporary society'. 's Jody Rosen complimented its dark, dense production, stating 'It's a sound that fits the dark subject matter'.
Tyler Munro of stated 'Dark, dense and paranoid, Rising Down is surprisingly better for it'. By contrast, 's Sean Howe expressed a mixed response towards its 'bad vibes' and lyrical 'gripes', calling it 'a socially conscious creation overseasoned with discontent'. Harry Allen of perceived its dense production as overwhelming Black Thought's rapping and questioned, 'is zealous love for the track submerging the band's vocalist?' , but commended 'the nuances of the Roots' dystopia; the rather painterly way they use sound, in the compositional modes that hip-hop affords, to render a world not only under duress, but, in fact, permanently diseased: on wax'. Writer Oliver Wang viewed that it 'doesn't replicate the balanced charm' of Game Theory, but ultimately commended its 'musical uniformity' and called it 'the more provocative effort'. Writer Zeth Lundy wrote that it 'does prove to be an provocative peer of cultural riot-acting and pragmatic contextualization-though, as contemporary pop music, it provides a much more immediate delivery of social ethics from a street-level perspective'.
The Roots
Nate Patrin of commended Black Thought's rapping and the album's articulation of lyrical themes concerning contemporary society's issues, stating: If you've been paying any damn attention to the world around you, most of Rising Down 's messages ring familiar, and frequently true: This is an album that tells you the entertainment industry is turning into a, the climate (both environmental and cultural) is getting fucked up, and broke people are still struggling. But this record states these ideas with respect to the notion that you know them already, and puts all the revelation and subtext into its unyielding sound. You could call it preaching to the converted, but it also feels like a reminder to the lapsed, less a wake-up call than a shot of renewed adrenaline. — Nate Patrin Nate Chinen of complimented the album's socially relevant themes and 'crisp musicianship', stating 'Spiked with dire intensity and stocked with head-spinning rhymes by Black Thought and nearly a dozen guest rappers. it’s the most potent Roots release since the one-two punch of ' ' and its predecessor, ' '. 's Keith Murphy commended The Roots' musical ambition and production on the album. 's Steve Jones gave the album four out of four stars and described its sound as 'industrial-strength funk that demands to be turned up loud'.
's Dave Hughes called it 'the most urgently malevolent modern funk record the band has assembled to date'. Nathan Rabin of gave it a B+ rating and praised 'the electric chemistry between Black Thought's unrelenting lyrical assault and?uestlove's epic drums'. 's Sarah Godfrey viewed that the album's ominous sound 'tempers heady subject matter with much-needed thump' and cited it as The Roots' best work since Things Fall Apart. In his consumer guide for, critic gave Rising Down an A rating and called it 'as pleasurable as prime or ', while citing it as 'the most accomplished pure hip-hop album in years'. Christgau ranked Rising Down number nine on his list of 2008's best albums. 's Sarah Rodman named it the third best album of 2008.
Track listing No. Title Producer(s) Length 1. 'The Pow Wow' 1:15 2. 'Rising Down' (featuring, & ) 3:40 3. 'Get Busy' (featuring Dice Raw, & ) The Roots, Ritz Reynolds 3:29 4. '@15' Black Thought 0:51 5.
'75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)' Questlove 3:15 6. 'Becoming Unwritten' The Roots, Tahir Jamal, Radji Mateen, Khari Mateen 0:36 7. 'Criminal' (featuring Truck North, & Kevin Hanson) The Roots, Khari Mateen 4:08 8. 'I Will Not Apologize' (featuring P.O.R.N., Dice Raw & ) The Roots, Richard Nichols 4:34 9. 'I Can't Help It' (featuring, P.O.R.N., Dice Raw & Mercedes Martinez) The Roots, Richard Nichols 4:39 10. 'Singing Man' (featuring P.O.R.N., Truck North & Dice Raw) The Roots, Khari Mateen 4:07 11. 'Unwritten' (featuring Mercedes Martinez) The Roots, Tahir Jamal, Radji Mateen, Khari Mateen 1:22 12.
'Lost Desire' (featuring Malik B & Talib Kweli) The Roots, Khari Mateen 3:58 13. 'The Show' (featuring & Dice Raw) The Roots, Tahir Jamal 3:44 14. 'Rising Up' (featuring & ) Questlove, 4:23 Bonus tracks No. Title Producer(s) Length 15.
'Birthday Girl' (featuring, Shane Clark, Kelli Scarr & Mercedes Martinez) Questlove, Richard Nichols, Shane Clark 4:05 16. 'The Grand Return' (featuring Dice Raw & Wadud Ahmad) The Roots, Pedro Martinez 2:24 17.
'Pow Wow 2' 3:18 Total length: 53:58 Personnel Credits for Rising Down adapted from. Benson – A&R.
Jay Brown – A&R. Jan Fairchild – vocal engineer. Jason Goldstein – engineer, mixing.
Kenny J. Gravillis – art direction. Kevin Hanson – choir, chorus. Tahir Jamal – producer. Karl Jenkins – A&R. Anthony Kilhoffer – engineer. David Kutch – mastering.
Talib Kweli – vocals, choir, chorus. Malik B. ^. ^ Murphy, Keith. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2008-02-22).
Entertainment Weekly. ^ Lundy, Zeth. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. Adaso, Henry. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. Hasty, Kate (2008-05-07).
Retrieved 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. ^. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
Concepcion, Mariel. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Brown, Marisa. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Christgau, Robert. '.: May 2008.
Archived from on 2009-10-05. ^ Howe, Sean. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Wang, Oliver. Retrieved on 2009-10-05.
'Review: Rising Down'. ^ Patrin, Nate.
Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Rosen, Jody. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Hughes, Dave.
Retrieved on 2009-10-05. ^ Dukes, Will (May 2008).
Retrieved on 2011-02-24. Hua, Hsu. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
Horan, Tom. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
Kot, Greg. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
Munro, Tyler. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
Allen, Harry. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. Chinen, Nate (May 4, 2008).
Retrieved on 2011-02-24. Jones, Steve. Retrieved on 2009-10-05.
Rabin, Nathan. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Godfrey, Sarah.
Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Christgau, Robert. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2010-04-25. Rodman, Sarah. Retrieved on 2009-10-05. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
External links. at. at.