A band is usually only as good as its front man. The Roots are no different. Take their last album Phrenology. When Black Thought stuck to a subject (for example, "Pussy Galore" and the first four minutes of "Water"), Phrenology's appeal went beyond the rock fans who dug "The Seed 2.0." So it's pretty safe to say that as Thought goes, so do The Roots. And on the Illadelph crew's sixth studio album, The Tipping Point, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter delivers some of the best work of his underrated career. Sounding invigorated by the turbulent political climate, he condemns Dubya's foreign policy on "Why? (What's Going On?)" rhyming, "Young teen joins the Marines, said he'd die for the corps / Inducted in the government's war / Is it for land or money?" However, The Tipping Point is not about heavy-handed preaching. Producing entertaining music with a message is one of Hip-Hop's greatest challenges--ask your favorite struggling, "conscious" artist--but The Roots manage to pull it off. Even on "I Don't Kare," one of the band's most club-friendly beats to date, Tariq spits, "The police known the green, black and red are too strong to control." With their political agenda satisfied, The Roots go back to '88 with "Boom!" a vicious track akin to the Bomb Squad's chaotic, yet melodic barrage of sound. On the final two verses, the skillful mimicry extends to the mic, as Thought impersonates Big Daddy Kane's and Kool G Rap's voices and flows, down to the very last lisp. Such reverence for the past is admirable, but sometimes The Tipping Point goes off the deep end. Tariq veers off topic on "The Web," seemingly freestyling over a dull drum-and-bass heavy track. Also, while "Din Da Da" and "Melting Pot" are impressive instrumentals, at a combined twenty minutes in length, they disrupt the album's momentum. But those missteps don't spoil The Roots' most entertaining album since 1999's Things Fall Apart. With minimal cameos, skilled lyricism and topical rhymes abound, The Roots front man takes center stage on The Tipping Point. And that's to the benefit of everyone in the band. - The Source (Sept., 2004). Revisit The Tipping Point below...
The full review in The Source and more are below...
