ESSAYWHUMAN?!!!??! Rewinding The Roots Part Six- Organix
Written: Jul 29 '04 (Updated Aug 10 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Raw.
Cons: Can get boring.
The Bottom Line: Organix is a fairly solid debut from The Roots, but easily their worst work. Only check it if you have nothing else to get from the group.
This is the final review in a series of six that covered the entire discography of the Roots (full lengths only) from Philadelphia. Thanks for reading, and once again, the links are all at the bottom. Peace.
Live instrumentation has never played a significant role in the hip-hop genre. Up until 1993, the only group of importance who had used this style was Stetsasonic from the 80's. At a time when sampling was taking over the industry, live instruments were seldom to never used in the creation of the music. With Dr. Dre loading his beats with synthesizers, and RZA creating grimy backdrops with his sample-laden production, the most popular of acts had signature production that was made away from the live instruments. In 1993, a group from Philadelphia entered the void with their debut album Organix. A hint of the success to come, the Roots introduced themselves to a small group of fans. With very little hype or anticipation, their indie-label debut served as a precursor for their following albums..
The Roots take much more liberty with their instruments on their debut, making full use of the music at their hands. Hub and the bass take more precedence here than on any other album, as seen on the first two tracks, the intro and the funky Pass The Popcorn. ?uestlove's constant use of the cymbals and Hub's low, thumping bass notes back the vocals of the main emcee on this album, Tariq Trotter aka Black Thought. ?uestlove himself makes a rare appearance on the mic, and let's just say it's good he has decided to stick to the drums for the most part on the rest of the Roots discography. Black Thought shows his first glimpses of brilliance on The Anti-Circle, spitting his trademark braggadocio. Though his flow is not as perfected as later albums, he's still shows flashes of an elite emcee. Once again, Hub's bass guitar composes a large part of the beat, combining with ?uestlove's drums.
The largest flaw I can think of for this album is that it fails to hold the listener's attention after one or two spins. The Session [Longest Posse Cut In History] clocks in at a monster 12 minutes, and unfortunately it fails to impress a lot. Only two or three of the verses, each of which is dropped by a different emcee, are remotely exciting. The rest, including raps from ?uestlove, are fairly boring and get old pretty quick. At 17 tracks, seven interludes is quite an excessive number to include.. soon enough you'll have the tendency to find the skip button on your CD player. The beat on Leonard I-V is somewhat irritating, sounding like a duck quacking.. over and over again, nullifying any redeeming qualities from Black Thought's vocals.
A few of the tracks lack the Roots trademark energy as well.. I'm Out Deah is fairly sleep-inducing, with the ultra-bland instrumental. Though ?uestlove is an undeniable master on the drums, some stronger melody would be much appreciated.
When you get past the lulls and slow parts of the album, there is still some of the quality Roots goodness on the album. Good Music is basically.. good music. With a soft instrumental in the background, Thought spits his lyrics fluently. Soon enough, keys increasing in notes appear to back him up. The track Common Dust is some high quality isht too, with a first flash of rock influence on the instrumental backing up the verses. The instrumental is composed of short, staccato electric guitar notes alternating with a guitar melody throughout the track.
When all is said and done, the Roots' debut is not a bad album by any means, just one that suffers from dragging along at points and a lack of energy. This is the Roots at their most aimless, they sound just like a group of kids coming together for fun and recording some tracks. The various instruments get more time to shine, and as a result the album is not focused on particular sounds like their later works. The Roots seem to be learning and crafting their niche in the hip-hop industry on this album, sometimes experimenting with different sounds and flows. If you've already checked everything else the Philadelphia crew has to offer, don't be too hesitant to pick up Organix, a glimpse at the future of this ultra-talented group from Philadelphia.
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