THE ROOTS - The Tipping Point
I absolutely adore ?uestlove, I love his drumming, and he is one smooth motherfucker. However, "The Philadelphia Experiment" touched a little too closely to "smooth jazz" (a genre I despise even though I love jazz); his compilation LP "Babies Makin' Babies" was a major disappointment (it just drags on and on...); so who knows, maybe he shouldn't be calling the shots. I almost puked when I found out he played on the new John Mayer album, but I would do it too for a paycheck. Regardless, he DID play a major role in the near-perfect "Voodoo" LP by D'Angelo, he DID help create "Things Fall Apart" (which, in my opinion, was the Roots' finest hour); and I think he does have genuinely good taste in old soul and is trying to spread it on to younger audiences. Someone described "The Tipping Point" as nothing more than "adult hip-hop," which may be the case, but after all, they are growing older. I thought it was going to be better than "Phrenology" after listening to the first track, but no, it's not. I have to admit, "Phrenology" has some sick tracks (i.e. the singles and a few others), but it doesn't compare to "Things Fall Apart." I miss Malik and the abstract ideas (which are still being put to use, but in a much more conservative way). I think the reason why all this can be argued is because they're righteous and smart, but moreso in interviews (especially as of late). Regardless, he still is one of my favorite drummers, and as for the John Mayer thing, the skit with the two of them on Chappelle's Show was funny as shit. He actually made John Mayer look cool. There's just something about ?uestlove's presence that makes me very happy. And after thinking about all this again, I have to give it to the man who contributed to D'Angelo's "Voodoo" and his own "Things Fall Apart," two of my all time favorite records. Those recordings make up for anything that may seem unnecessary or unjustified. Did anyone see him DJ at the Black Cat? I didn't, and was wondering how it was...
