If Eminem is a savior of pop music, as Ozren Milat, journalist of Nomad, once concluded, then I can freely proclaim The Roots saviors of rap music. Rap as more specific parameter of the umbrella term "pop" still exists in limited media spaces and it still doesn't care what anyone outside of the neighbourhood thinks about it. Rap artists especially don't care about opinions of people who don't even listen to rap music. However, rap had a major issue - circling between good verses and good beats. And this is where The Roots came in.
They have been on their mission to save rap for the past 25 years, although you could always notice that they are a bit reclusive and reserved. Due to the fact that they are incredible musicians, they managed to change opinion of the general audience towards rap style. Was that enough? Mostly yes. Trip-hop, dub, soul, jazz, rock and funk excursions through which they were amplifying the horizons of hip hop music, but only when that didn't affect their status in xenophobic hip hop community.
But then it came the moment when the band's inspiration reach the level that made the grail of their hip-hop idealism spill all over the table. It was 2010, when their album How I Got Over was released. Hip hop became too narrow with them, which is why their 9th record offered songs on the trace of Neil Young, Brian Wilson and Lennon-McCartney.
From the opening trilogy Peace Of Light, Walk Alone and Dear God 2.0 (which radiates with introspection of David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name) to The Day which would make Carole King and Joni Mitchell proud, these guys were showing how hip hop can be done in many formats. As you may have noticed, I didn't mention any hip hop artist as their influence, not even one representative of African-American culture. It just means that How I Got Over totally got over hip hop.
However, The Roots did not departure from their stylistic habitus in 2010. During the whole album, they played the same, although genius breakbeats, greasy bass and seldom scratch. This was a shame, because the core of their songs deserved much more. Still, The Roots sacrificed their "black pride" for music art and tapped into the unknown pallette or arrangement colors.
The Roots have broken many more unwritten hip-hop rules since How I Got Over. But that's when they officially replaced sampler with drum and gangsta narrative with a discourse worthy of phd in sociology. What made How I Got Over their best record? It was industrious, sober and rare attempt to transcend rap and make everyone aware of the importance of overcoming boundaries and reaching "higher" art.
