Rising Down (CD)

• Category:  Music  »  Rap & Hip Hop  »  Rap & Hip Hop/General
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: April 29, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Def Jam (USA)
• UPC: 602517672567
• WAPI (Tower ID): 112001007
• Average Customer Review:    (1 customer review)
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #2987 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #110 in Rap & Hip Hop (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop Bestsellers)
• #96 in Rap & Hip Hop/General (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop/General Bestsellers)

•  [The Roots - Official Websitethis link opens a new window] 
  
•  [The Roots - Wikipedia Entrythis link opens a new window] 
  
•  [The Roots - DefJam Recordingsthis link opens a new window] 
  
•  [The Roots - Music at Last.fmthis link opens a new window] 
  

Rolling Stone (p.66) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "RISING DOWN is the Roots' most political album....Rapper Black Thought is in his comfort zone playing the firebrand..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.117) - "[T]he listener is rewarded with 'Rising Up,' in which the Fender Rhodes jazzmatazz of earlier records segues into bell-rocking go-go."
Vibe (p.65) - "[T]he Roots rise above on this album, bravely pushing themselves at every turn, proving, in an era full of froth and fancy, that sometimes nightmares are the most important kind of dreams."
Paste (magazine) (p.63) - "[The songs] deliver an honest and abrasive diatribe within The Roots' legacy of civil commentary and inspired musicianship."

On album number eight, the Roots continue to pursue their more nihilistic tendencies in the same vein as 2006's exceptional GAME THEORY. With a title inspired by W.T. Vollman's voluminous history of violence, RISING DOWN sees Black Thought (alongside Malik B, Dice Raw and a thick list of formidable guest MCs and vocalists, including Mos Def, Styles P, Talib Kweli, Common, Peedi Peedi, Saigon, Truck North, and Mercedes Martinez, among others) examining violence, oppression, and the pollution of the American Dream in a variety of places and circumstances. The grim subject matter goes hand-in-hand with a noticeably darker production approach. Largely absent are the lighter, electric piano-driven tracks (a longtime Roots trademark). they've given way to murky synthesizers and noisy, distortion-filled instrumentation. The album intro (a band conference call that quickly devolves into an impassioned shouting match) bluntly lets listeners know what they're in for. Mounting frustration, apprehension, outrage, and anger pervade virtually every track, making RISING DOWN anything but a feel-good record. What it is instead is one of the most compelling and urgent hip-hop albums in years. Or, as Dice Raw puts it on "Get Busy," "Kinda like W.E.B. Dubois meets Heavy D and the Boyz."

Rising Down - The Roots

This April 29th, 2008 release marks The Roots’ eighth studio album but only their second on Def Jam, following Game Theory (2006). The Philadelphia-based hip-hop group collaborates with stars such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, Mos Def, Saigon, Common, and several others to create their most politically-inclined album, Rising Down.

Named after William T. Vollmann’s book on violence, Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on violence, freedom and urgent means, the album exudes a dark ambiance although it is filled with many bright sparks.

In an attempt to describe the content of Rising Down, ?uestlove, the band’s producer and backbone, says: “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.”

From the old-school aesthetic established by DJ Jazzy Jeff’s scratching (“Get Busy”) to the soulful singing of Chrisette Michele (“Rising Up”), this album may resonate forebodingly but there’s an impressive wall of sound that leaves little out. This is perhaps one of the most original and inventive albums released by The Roots.

Favorite Songs: “Get Busy”, “Rising Up”, and “Birthday Girl”

-Seb, Tower Pulse 04/30/2008

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