The Roots: The Roots Come Alive

The Roots' climb has been slow but steady, first winning several local-band competitions in Philadelphia before working up the food chain with four acclaimed albums. This year's Things Fall Apart and its inescapable single "You Got Me" finally broke the band, justifying all it's been working toward for the past decade. While the group's approach to hip hop—few samples, actual musicianship, intelligent rapping—is impressive in its own right, The Roots' biggest accomplishment may be in giving its little corner of the hip-hop world some focus. The band's dedication to live performance has provided leadership for such likeminded MCs as Mos Def and Common, as well as peers like Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Les Nubians, and Zap Mama. Each of these acts has helped fill an international void in high-quality soul, hip hop, and R&B, and with the creative crisis heading toward resolution, The Roots' members return with a celebratory toss-out to their fans and supporters. Come Alive provides an excellent opportunity for anyone who has never experienced The Roots live to get a taste of how good the band can be. With just uestlove's drums, Kamal's keyboard, Hub's bass, Malik B. and Black Thought's powerful mic presence, and the mock-turntable wizardry of virtuoso vocalists Scratch and Rahzel, the group reflects 100 years of black music (blues, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop) while constantly easing its way toward the future. Come Alive starts with a Grandmaster Flash soundbite before proceeding through The Roots' career, offering great renditions of "The Next Movement," "Step Into The Realm," "Adrenaline!," and "You Got Me." The band caps things off with a pair of excellent new songs, "What You Want" (from the soundtrack to The Best Man) and "The Lesson—Part III (It's Over Now)," two indications that The Roots will keep it real and lead for some time to come.