Reviews
"...the Roots represent one of the few hip-hop units that genuinely raise the quality level of the genre....from throat-grabbin' raps to silky-smooth sing-a-longs, leaving cliches at the door while pumping in brand new, heavy doses of groove...", "...this straight outta-Illadellph septet maintain a high standard of verbal one-upmanship and lyrical inventiveness, spinning out trenchant inner-city dispatches with righteous fury, while the band's judicious Fender Rhodes tinkling and jazzbo fingerpicking help stoke the album's quiet storms..." - Rating: B, "An Album As BadAss As the Live Show.", "'Double Trouble' is arguably the centerpiece of THINGS FALL APART; rapper Black Thought finally had a hard-charging instrumental to match his verbal dexterity, and guest Mos Def matched him bar-for-bar.", 4 (out of 5) - "...This minimalist approach is a new avenue for the crew, but one they maneuver with ease, ever careful not to tread lightly and feign a noncommittal stance...", 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...The hip-hop vanguard that's ignoring trends - musical, lyrical, sartorial - and experimenting, forging ahead, creating new directions....combining kinetic street energy with fresh, artful musical ideas...", 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...amidst bubbling bass, jazz guitar licks and snare splats he main rapper, Black Thought celebrates original hip-hop virtues without surrendering to nostalgia...", Ranked #9 in Cmj's "Top 30 Editorial Picks for 1999.", 4 Mics (out of 5) - "...THINGS FALL APART is the desolate Mad Max-ish soundscape of the post-Armageddon New World....the product of a group who has opened its eyes, and found that the second coming has already arrived in the form of social ills and artistic stagnation...", 4 (out of 5) - "...the Roots fuse melodic choruses and rap verses into rich, fully-realized grooves...", Ranked #12 in Muzik's "Albums of the Year '99", 4 out of 5 - "...The Roots strike gold with their weighty and serious third effort....there's no doubt it's all poetry.", "...their most accomplished album...mixing their trademark human beatbox, live instrumentation and smoothly flowing patter with a gorgeous guest appearance from Erykah Badu.", "...the Roots have finally perfected their sound....The Roots have reconfigured the pyramid again, placing themselves at the top...", Included in the Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year 1999.", 4 out of 4 - "...The Roots are not only the last Hip Hop 'band'; they are Hip Hop apostles whose love for the art form compels them to push it further musically and lyrically...", "...the stunner they've always promised: the first candidate for hip hop album of 1999....in a hip-hop world dominated by well-worn pop samples and rap rewrites of 80's chart hits, such risk-taking should be cherished..."
