Atonement
This might be my favorite Roots album.
It's a good 4 mic effort and the production is excellent as usual, but a lot Black Thought's rhymes are just a bit too bland to take this album to that next level. Far too many generic "i'm from Philly where it's rough" type rhymes and not enough memorable or creative material. I think 'Take it there' could have been a classic Roots song if it had sharper writing. 'Long Time' and the J Dilla tribute have held up really nicely though. Great songs.
BTW it's crazy to think this came out 10 years ago.Those years really flew by.
I always felt the exact opposite of this. I liked the fact Black Thought's bars were autobiographic on this, because I'd heard him do the 'MC's MC' so many times before. Didn't cross my mind that were people who might feel the opposite way.
You live and learn.
I really rated it. I liked the fact it looked like Peedi might get another bite of the apple with them - I believe they offered him a spot in the band. Malik B had come back after being absent for so long and they had some dope Dilla dedication tracks on it.
To me, It was like the perfect mix of the band's past and present![]()
Thought's always had some personal joints here and there (Water, The Hypnotic etc) but I don't think the personal stuff on this album quite reaches that level. 'Clock with no hands' for example has too many cliche lines "closer than friends, that's where I keep my enemies at", "I never sleepwalk when you dead you get your shut eye", "I might forgive but I do not forget". There's a fair bit of that kind of stuff on this album which I think stops it from reaching greatness. It's a good album though, I don't want to rag on it too hard.
What happened to Peedi? He seems to have fallen off the map. I really liked his verse on Long Time. Peedi and the Roots would've been a good look.
I mean, it's a "good" album i suppose but those dark, boring songs in the beginning with low voice McGhee talking about middleton were a buzz kill.
The Roots never hit grand slams. they have a high batting average but leave runners on base a lot.