Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove

Written by Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and Ben Greenman

I'm not sure I can adequately express the depth of my respect for Questlove and The Roots.  I've been following their music for over fifteen years, and have almost always been impressed with each new album or concert.  More than that, though, Questlove has, through his writing on Okayplayer and other media outlets, been a teacher and guide through music, race, and just about any other topic he decides to talk about.  I remember his eulogy for J. Dilla moving me to tears.

Anyway, although I never read celebrity memoirs, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove.  Quest does a great job, in many ways, of situating himself and The Roots in the various historical eras of hip-hop, showing how the band grew from the music that he and Tariq 'Black Thought' Trotter were listening to in high school, and how industry forces and trends, and their own inter-group dynamics, have shaped them over time.  He also explains the rise and fall of neo-soul, and a number of other things that I hadn't always put together as being related.

What he doesn't do, for which I'm thankful, is 'tell all'.  He never once names the girls he's dated, or shares salacious information about others.  When he does talk about other famous people, it is usually self-deprecating, like telling about the time he first met his idol, Prince, or the story of being at Lyricist Lounge when Mos Def dissed Puff Daddy on stage, only to later find him in the audience.

Quest comes across as a little awkward, and not always aware of how his actions are going to play out, which is a very honest and risky level of truth for a book like this.  I'd always admired the man, but having read this book, I now really like him.

There are a few things missing from this book that surprised me.  At its heyday, the Okayplayer website was a huge force in hip-hop, and served as my introduction to a lot of great music.  While the site is mentioned here or there, Quest never gets into a lot of detail about his role in forming that site, which is something I'd expected to learn a little more about.

I did come away from this book with an even greater understanding of music.  I found myself constantly cueing up videos on Youtube while reading this book, listening for the drums Quest talks about, or just satisfying my curiosity.  I didn't grow up surrounded with music the way he did, and so feel like I have to play catch-up in some key areas.

It's impossible to discuss this book without talking about the 'meta' material in it.  Really, this book is written by three people: Questlove, Dan Greenman, his co-writer, and Richard Nichols, the band's co-manager.  Some chapters are structured as a conversation between Quest and Rich, and they are pretty entertaining.  As the book progresses, Rich moves into the footnotes, sometimes adding more detail to a story Questlove is telling, and at other times flat out contradicting it.  His contribution to the book is great.

Ben Greenman, I'm not so sure of.  From time to time, he includes an e-mail to his editor, Ben Greenberg, about the direction the book is taking, or about some aspect of his job in the book.  None of these (short of the first one explaining that Rich is the bold text), add anything to the book, except for making it obvious that there is a co-writer involved in the process, who we know nothing else about.  I found myself reading into his presence (is it ego?), and later, that made me very conscious of the fact that despite the text being in first person, I never really knew whose words I was reading.

Regardless, this book is a solid document of a band that has had an important place in my life, and the world they've lived in.  I'm sure it could have been a lot longer and more detailed (the last two albums barely get a page each), but as it stands, it was always entertaining, and very educational.

Black Radio Recovered: The Remix EP

by Robert Glasper Experiment

Robert Glasper's Black Radio was one of the best albums to be released in 2012; a near-perfect blend of hip-hop, r&b, soul, and jazz.  To make the year even better, this short Remix EP arrived.

The six-track disc starts with 9th Wonder's remix of 'Afro Blue', the Erykah Badu-driven song.  This new version has a little more snare to it, and a great verse by Phonte.

Pete Rock remixes Yasiin Bey's track 'Black Radio'.  This feels very close to the original, just a little more driving.

The always fantastic Georgia Anne Muldrow remixes 'The Consequences of Jealousy', the Meshell Ndegeocello song from the original album.  Personally, I would have liked to hear Muldrow on this song vocally, as well as behind the boards, but what can you do?  ?uestlove brings the Roots into the project for his remix of 'Twice', which also features Solange Knowles.

Glasper himself remixes Bilal's lovely 'Letter to Hermione', working with Jewels (whoever that is).  This track includes a verse by Black Milk, who would have been an interesting choice to remix the amazing Lupe Fiasco track on the original album.

To round out this EP, and worth the cost of the disc on its own, is Dillalude #2, a nine-minute medley of some Dilla hits like MC^2 and 'The Light', played by Glasper's band, complete with the slightly annoying vocoder effects he seems to like so much.

This EP is a great way to revisit some wonderful music, and see it in a new light.

Undun

by The Roots

Every time I've heard the statement over the last few years that 'hip-hop is dead', I've always thought of the perfect counter-argument, which is The Roots.  This ever-changing group has done more than anyone to advance and evolve the genre of hip-hop, while also transcending it with every new album.  And then they go and release Undun, which has to be considered their masterpiece.

Undun is structured as a concept album, telling the story of Redford Stevens, a small-time crook from a poor neighbourhood.  The character and concept were derived from a Sufjan Stevens song, but the packaging of the story is that of The Roots.  The story unfolds in reverse-chronological order, starting when Redford is already dead, and looking back on the string of choices that he made through his life.  At times the story can be confusing, as Black Thought is joined on the mic by a number of other MCs (including Phonte, Big KRIT, Dice Raw, Truck North, Bilal Oliver, and Greg Porn).

The story is secondary on this album though, because the music is incredible.  The Roots, under the direction of Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, push themselves to new heights here.  The more straight-forward hip-hop tracks at the beginning of the album are banging, but the disc ends with four classical pieces, which make up the Redford Suite.

Three things come away with me from listening to this.  The first is just how good rapper Black Thought is - he seems to be better with every new album, and he was always very good.  The second thing that I marvel at is how collaborative this whole album feels; I imagine that everyone involved had an equal hand, and that's why the music is just so good.  Finally, I can't believe that this album is actually less than forty minutes long.  Listening to it, I always feel like much more time has passed, since this album is so dense musically, lyrically, and spiritually.  Best of the year, hands down.

Wake Up!

by John Legend and The Roots

I've been giving this a lot of play in the last couple of months.  I love the Roots, and while I've never bought a John Legend album before, I can appreciate his talent.

What I like about this album is that Legend and the Roots have selected a number of older songs they deemed deserving of an update for the 21st century.  They talk in the liner notes about the optimism they felt at the beginning of the Obama administration's tenure in Washington, and while most peoples' (perhaps too lofty) expectations have not exactly been lived up to, there is much of that moment echoed in these songs and tracks.

This is a very soulful and funky disk, and while the title song gets on my nerves a little with its overly-earnest message, the rest of the album is just about perfect.  Few of the songs stand out to me as individual pieces - 'Hard Times', 'I Can't Write Left Handed', and 'Little Ghetto Boy' are favourites - but the overall aesthetic of the album is very effective.  I love the Roots.

How I Got Over

by The Roots

With How I Got Over, the Roots once again prove that they are on a different level than just about anyone else working in hip-hop.  They are easily the most 'musical' group in the hip-hop world, and their time on the Jimmy Fallon show has clearly helped them to improve their craft and the quality of their jams.

This album finds them in a more thoughtful and contemplative place.  The roots of this (sorry) were seen on Rising Down, their last album, but I feel like they've arrived in a new place with this disk. 

Songs like 'Walk Alone', 'Dear God 2.0', and 'How I Got Over' demonstrate a rare maturity in this genre, and the songs shift seamlessly from one to the other, showing that these guys are making albums, not just a bunch of singles. 

Black Thought demonstrates once again that he is one of the hardest MCs alive, although he never gets recognition for that.  The crew is joined by their usual collaborators Dice Raw, PORN, Peedi Peedi, and Truck North.  Other guests include the Monsters of Folk, Joanna Newsom, STS, and John Legend.  Of special note are the two guest spots each given to Blu and Phonte Coleman (of Little Brother).  These are two rappers I have a lot of respect for, and it's nice to see Blu get the exposure, and it's nice to hear Phonte cut loose over some amazing backing music.

There is hardly a mis-step on the album.  The intro track is easily skipped, and I didn't really feel 'Web 20/20', but the rest of this thing is a monster.  Halfway through 2010, I think I've found my pick for album of the year.