Here4theBeer

Do You Want More??!?? (1994)

Now, this is where the Roots really started to get going. Signed to a major label and ready to make a splash, the group was letting its creative juices flow. The opening track ‘Proceed’ and it’s first line state their intentions. They were going to make you think, and they were going to make you question everything.

‘Just think…what if you could just…just blink away?’

The rest of the track is a tour de force of mid 90’s rap. Beat boxing mixed with Questlove’s live drums, a classic hook and a dreamy piano loop courtesy of Scott Storch. The jazzy jamming session was still very prevalent at this time. The jazz influences were addressed in ‘Dat Skat’ and the revamped ‘Essaywhuman???!?’.

The relaxed vibe is reinforced by ‘Mellow My Man’ and ‘Lazy Afternoon’, a track which features the same verse 3 times with minor differences which give a different picture as to what is happening. Perhaps, however, the most impressive feat of this album is the title track, which, believe it or not, utilises bag pipes excellently.

Unfortunately, the album begins to lose steam with the last 3 songs before finishing on the storming ‘The Lesson Pt. 1’, a freestyle between Black Thought and a 15 year old Dice Raw, laced over the beat boxing of Razhel. This relaxed, playful end closes off the Roots (and I suspect anyone’s) loosest album to date. An absolute masterpiece of summertime driving music if I’ve ever heard one.

Best tracks:

‘Proceed’
‘Do You Want More??!?!’
‘Essaywhuman??!?!?’

9/10

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