The Roots的第六张专辑《Phrenology》。Black Thought的歌词是他迄今为止最为感性的一次。专辑一首长度超过10分钟的《Water》,这是传递给曾经的乐队成员,沉溺于毒品的Malik B的消息,也是自从Issac Hayes放弃了垄长的编曲之后,再次让歌迷听到奢侈华丽而雄心勃勃的一首歌曲。Amiri Baraka, Nelly Furtado and Cody Chestnut 都是亮点,他们还首次引入punk元素,混音的部分邀请了深受80年代节奏布鲁斯影响的吉他手Ben Kenney来共同打造。Kenney之后加入了Incubus乐队 。滚石杂志声称,The Roots的《Phrenology》勾画出了“21世纪流行音乐的蓝图”。The Roots因提名专辑《Phrenology》而受邀参加格莱美颁奖盛典,并与Eminem共同表演。
If you were wondering what the heck phrenology means, the Roots wouldn't have it any other way. Hip-hop's hardest-working live band continues where they left off with Things Fall Apart, forcing listeners to think outside of the Hot 97 FM box--or just plain think. On "Thought at Work," lead emcee Black Thought--the most criminally underrated wordsmith of his time--weaves captivating flows over a neck-snapping break beat, while on "Water" he boldly addresses the controversy surrounding his partner-in-rhyme Malik B's alleged substance abuse. While collaborations with Nelly Furtado ("Sacrifice") and Talib Kweli ("Rhymes and Ammo") read much better on paper than they sound, the catchy, up-tempo call-and-response routine utilized by the crew on the latter song will amp up Roots nonbelievers. As a bonus, Jill Scott's dreamy falsetto refrain hammers home some finer points about love on "Complexity." --Dalton Higgins Amazon
专辑曲目:
01. Phrentrow 02. Rock You 03. !!!!!!! 04. Sacrifice (feat. Nelly Furtado) 05. Rolling With Heat (feat. Talib Kweli) 06. Waok (Ay) Rollcall 07. Thought @ Work 08. The Seed (2.0) (feat. Cody Chestnutt) 09. Break You Off (feat. Musiq) 10. Water 11. Quills 12. Pussy Galore 13. Complexity (feat. Jill Scott) 14. Something in the Way of Things [In Town] (feat. Amiri Baraka) 15. Silence #1 16. Silence #2 17. Hidden Track 18. Silence #3