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The Roots - HomeGrownAlbum Review by:
Melanie J Cornish
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
 Watching Balckthought give a ridiculous performance on the VH1 Hip-hop Honors Award I thought to myself, I wish the Roots would put out a compilation CD as opposed to me having to make one myself. Fast forward to November 15th and all my prayers were answered, with not just a typical compilation either. 'The Beginners Guide to Understanding the Roots' Part One and Part Two is compiled of some of the Roots classics, some unheard material and tracks that just make you sit back and smile like 'Din Da Da'. Live mixes and dubs have been pulled out of the vault to satiate their fans thirst for a new album, but on the flip side just as the title says, for those not familiar with the talent housed within the five letter word it truly gives you an understanding of them and how ground breaking they are.
They are musically unchallenged and listening to the live mix of 'The Melting Pot'it is hard to imagine Hip-hop without them. A collective which has the experience which they do exemplifies nothing more than pure genius. The Roots have always stayed true to themselves by giving their all to their fans whether it be through their albums or their stage shows.
The thirty tracks featured on the album pulled from masterpieces such as 'Organix' through to 'Phrenology' have message boards jumping as to which Volume a person should be if you had to choose just one. The simple reality is, if you are truly a Roots fan, you can’t buy just one, if you are looking to, as the title says, understand the Roots you have to buy both. You need to be exposed the dub of 'Break you Off on Volume 2', you need to appreciate the 'Sacrifice' and 'The Seed/Melting Pot/Web' (already mentioned, but I in total awe of this version) featuring Giles Peterson.
Don’t get it twisted though as Volume One has just as many classics from the vault of ?estlove. 'You Got Me' featuring two of Philly’s finest female artists, Jill Scott and Eve and of course the theme tune from the Best Man movie, 'What you Want' featuring another rare talent in Jaguar Wright. One thing about the Roots is they never fail to bring nothing more than talent into their fold when they collaborate. With extensive liner notes, unreleased instrumentals and the pure ingenuity the Roots as a collective exudes, their two disc compilation 'HomeGrown: The Beginners Guide to the Roots' has to be a staple for any CD collection.
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I'm on dat. There's to much rubbish out there nowadays because it's all about the money. Fairplay. Ya gotta get paid. But the roots,... They remind you that hip hop is an art, a form of expression. Which was once upon a time the only way a young mind of the ghetto could speak to the world. Money well spent. Some of these other artists....two tune albums.