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The Roots Do You Want More?!!!??! Average Rating: 
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If you like "Do You Want More?!!!??!", you might also like ...
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| Customer Reviews 1-5 of 71 | NEXT >> |
2008-07-31add this to your collection if you don't already have it. i love every track on it.
2007-03-29I love this group. I love the jazz infused hip hop verses. If you're looking for something mellow with a little edge, then this is the CD for you.
2006-11-15As a musician, DJ and a hip hop afficianado, I enjoy listening to these guys. Tariq is a top-shelf, A-class lyricist, while Amhir is wondrous on the percussion. My complaint with this album is the same as my complaint with the first one, Organix. It just doesnt grab me like the rest of the catalog does. To me it seems as though they are still finding themselves creatively. There some excelllent tracks here (e.g. Distortion to Static, Silent Treatment) but the coherence isnt quite there. That said, this is STILL a neccessary part of the collection, as it offers itself as a prelude to their excelllence in the years to come.
2006-05-31This was the second album that I picked up from The Roots (the first was The Tipping Point) and it has to be a real nice album to enjoy from beggining to end. It sounds like that they are at a live secession when recording this, with the instruments and the vocals. The second song gets the album going with the lead single "procede I" (There are about 5 diffrent versions of this song on a bunch of 12" singles somewhere) as lead member Black Thought spits two verses, then Malik B finishes up the song. "Distortion To Static" is a song that features a bunch of laughter as the background vocals as the chorus. A standout track would be the song "Mellow My Man" as Black Thought passes the mic to Malik B on both verses. "I Remain Calm" is a loud track with drums. I couldn't decipher what the woman was saying in the back untill a previvous reviewer said she was saying "What the hell is this?", but Malik B and Black Thought come correct on this one. "Lazy Afternoon" as many people should have relized Black Though spits the same verse 3 times, each with a little more attitide than the previvous. Rahzel would do his thing on the interlude "? vs. Rahzel". Another hot track is the title song "Do You Want More?!!!??!" as Black Thought rhymes over some bagpipes and drums that are played throughout the song. My only knock on this song is that Black Thought spits one solid verse and the track closes out with the title repeated with a few ad-libs. I was hoping he or Malik B would add another verse to the song. "What Goes On Part 7" is another layed back Roots style track with some tounge clicking curteosy of Rahzel. "Essaywhumam?!!!??!" gives me a somewhat of a confirmation that this was a live secession being recorded as instruments play and Black Thought handles the vocals, eventhough he doesnt rap. "Swept Away" is a song with a with a snare being played with a soft horn being played through the song, making it another standout. "You Ain't Fly" is a song about dissing some girl that rejected them, and yes ?uestion (now ?uestlove) raps on this song too, so its something worth hearing. "Silent Treatment" is a long song by Black Thought about a female that he liked (The group City High would sample this for that hit song "Carmel" about 4 years ago), as the music gives a relaxing feel. The listener should get out of that relaxed mode as the next track "The Lesson Part 1" as Black Thought and Dice Raw freestyle the entire track (Dice goes on for a good minute). Ursela Rucker would come by and drop a spoken word poem, that you have to listen real hard to understand what shes [really] saying other than the graphic words. I like it, because its somethig diffrent that I've never heard on a hip hop album (whats funny is that Yvette's cell rings interupting the poem somewhere in the middle). A great way to close the album off with something like this (I don't know and won't get into what the heck Rahzel does after the long silence following the spoken word.)
Overall this is a nice album, and a great experience to listeners to those who like hip hop with the help of live instruments. My only knock is that some songs they can give me a headache such as "Daskat" because of its loudness, but it doesnt take away from the album. I recomend this to all fans of Hip Hop, fans of live music and fans of the Roots, you can't go wrong.
Lyrics: A-
Production: A+ (live instruments)
Musical Vibes: A
Overall: A
Standout tracks: procede I, Mellow My Man, Swept Away, Do You Want More?!!!??!, and The Lesson Pt. 1
2006-05-27The Roots sophmore album was "Do You Want More?!!!??!". I recieved this album as a gift when it dropped in 1995, and at the time it was an introduction to a whole new genre of Rap I was unfamiliar with. I remember thinking "So this is what Philly Rap sounds like", its far from that simple though, the Roots brought a unique, distinct sound with this live album. After the intro, Black Thought and Malik B shine on "procede", a head nodder that has both MC's shining. "Mellow My Man", "I Remain Calm" & "Datzcat" are upbeat cut's where Black Thought and Malik B drop some abstract rhymes. The albums biggest collaboration is "Lazy Afternoon" which features Black Thought, Rahzel, Sista Urban & Rachel Graham. ?uestlove, Rahzel go head to head with the experimental and cool beatboxing "? Vs. Rahzel". Black Thought reps Philly and other cities on the title track "Do You Want More?!!!??!". Backed by some smooth production, and tounge clicking Black Thought, Malik B and Elo team up for "What Goes On Pt. 7". One of my favourite cuts on this release is "Swept Away", this track literally does that as Black Thought, Malik and Cassandra Wilson provide a smooth and memorable joint. Black Thought reflects on getting the "Silent Treatment", and Dice Raw makes his first appearence with "The Lesson Part 1". Ursula Rucker's spoken word poetry on "The Unlocking" closes off the album. Lyrically the Roots would elevate on future joints, production though was excelllent. Experimental, creative, jazzy and memorable music makes "Do You Want More?!!!??!" an album worth checking out. Root's fan's can also look forward to "Game Theory" currently scheduald to drop in late August 2006. 3.5.
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| Editorial Review |
Nothing wrong with a little artificial grazeland, of course, but the Roots are making tasty roughage that blooms into real songs, where raps wind around bass, drums, keys, and horns, and where instruments coil up to voice cadences--where music and lyrics meet and grow together naturally, not coincidentally. You can hear the Roots' heart pump hardest when they pull off the things loops and samples cannot: just check the vocal/instrument interchanges of "Essaywhuman?!!!??!" or the left-turn instrumental digression midway through "Mellow My Man" to witness the living sounds of rap.
The Roots' Philadelphia-based groove collective build slick acid jazz playing around the smooth East Coast rhyming of A Tribe Called Quest and wild West Coast freestyling to create sounds as formless and fluid as jazz, but never unrecognizable as hip-hop. The music picks up where the mad scatting and melodic trills of L.A.'s defunct Freestyle Fellowship left off, and wakes up the tired hype of jazz/rap cross-polination to new possibilities. The roots of this kind of fusion have long been around, though perhaps these Roots are hope for a new dawning. --Roni Sarig
If you like "Do You Want More?!!!??!", you might also like ...
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Illadelph Halflife |
Things Fall Apart |
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