Game Theory [PA]

Performer: The Roots
Artist: Bunny Sigler; Porn; Malik B.; Peedi Peedi
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Roots: Black Thought (rap vocals); Captain Kirk Douglas (guitar); Kamal Gray (keyboards); Leonard Hubbard (bass guitar); ?uestlove (drums); Frank "Knuckles" Walker (percussion). Despite what critics might have said about their two previous efforts, true hip-hop heads know that the Roots never fell off. On their seventh studio album, Philadelphia's favorite sons continue to elevate their signature sound that has for years appealed to rap purists and staggered the more critical listeners who love to lament the lack of musicianship in hip-hop. Fans who were worried about how the crew's style would mesh with the Def Jam formula will be relieved from the gate, as the intro (an eerily ambient reworking of the Jay Dee-produced "Fantastic" intro) gives way to the upbeat, drum-driven "False Media." Equally relieving to longtime Roots fans is the return of Malik B whose aggressive delivery again provides balance to Black Thought's more measured cadence. On the whole, GAME THEORY contains heavier subject matter; the politics of the day pervade virtually every track, while the tone ranges from heated urgency ("Don't Feel Right" and "In The Music") to the uplifting and soulful ("Baby" and "Long Time") to sad introspection ("Atonement" and the bonus track tribute to the late Jay Dee). GAME THEORY is hip-hop with a message and shows us an angrier, more impassioned group of artists eager to tackle the issues confronting their community, yet still doing it with true bounce. Game Theory is the Roots' equivalent of a Funkadelic playlist containing "Wars of Armageddon," "Cosmic Slop," "Maggot Brain," "March to the Witch's Castle," and "America Eats Its Young." It's a vivid reflector of the times, not an escape hatch (of which there are several readily available options). Spinning turbulence, paranoia, anger, and pain into some of the most exhilarating and startling music released in 2006, the group is audibly galvanized by the world's neverending tailspin and a sympathetic alignment with Def Jam. Batting around stray ideas and squeezing them into shape was clearly not part of the plan, and neither was getting on the radio. The songs flow into and out of one another to optimal effect, with an impossibly stern sense of peak-of-powers focus, as if the group and its collaborators instantly locked into place and simply knocked the thing out. With the exception of the elbow-throwing "Here I Come," nothing here is suitable for any kind of carefree activity. The extent of the album's caustic nature is tipped off early on, after glancing at the hangman on the cover and hearing Wadud Ahmad's penetrating voice run through lines like "Pilgrims, slaves, Indians, Mexicans/It looks real f*cked up for your next of kin." The point at which the album kicks into full gear, just a couple minutes later, arrives when tumbling bass drums and a Sly & the Family Stone sample ("This is a game/I'm your specimen") are suddenly overtaken by pure panic -- pulse-racing drums, anxious organ jabs, pent-up guitar snarls, and breathless rhyming from Black Thought and Malik B. "In the Music" exemplifies the deeply textured nature of the album's production work, with its rolling/roiling rhythm -- throbbing bass, clanging percussion, tight spirals of guitar -- made all the more claustrophobic by Porn's amorphous chorus and Black Thought's and Malik B.'s hunched-shoulder deliveries. Even "Baby," the closest thing to a breather in this patch of the album, arises from a sweltering jungle bog. After "Long Time," the ninth track, the levels of tension and volume decrease, yet the moods are no brighter, even if the surfaces leave a different impression. "Clock with No Hands" is introduced as a sweet slow jam with a light vocal hook from Mercedes Martinez, but it's as paranoid as anything else on the album. Jack Davey projects the chorus of the slower, Radiohead-sampling "Atonement" in a druggy haze while Black Thought speaks of "being faced with the weight of survival." The closer, an eight-minute suite titled "Can't Stop This," features a J Dilla production -- previewed on his Donuts, released the week he left this planet -- that opens and closes with testimonials to the musician's talent and humanity. Taken with or without this staggering finale, Game Theory is a heavy album, the Roots' sharpest work. It's destined to become one of Def Jam's proudest, if not most popular, moments. ~ Andy Kellman

Rolling Stone (p.100) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "For every head-nodding beat, GAME THEORY has a head-turning treat, from the 'om' chant intro on the gospel-style 'Baby' to the melancholy Radiohead sample of 'Atonement'." Rolling Stone (p.104) - Ranked #18 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "GAME THEORY is classic studio Roots, full of invention and left turns." Spin (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "GAME THEORY is The Roots at their heaviest. Keyboards that once draped a gauzy texture over their funk excursions now elbow their way into the mix." Spin (p.59) - Ranked #23 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[A] suite of intensely glowering songs..." Entertainment Weekly (p.p.77) - "GAME THEORY is their toughest, weightiest, and most uncommercial effort yet....This is the rare hip-hop release that's both gripping and touching." -- Grade: A- Uncut (p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] focused, intelligent record....The reshuffle yields some of their best material with assaults like 'In The Music' and the J Dilla tribute 'Can't Stop This'..." Vibe (p.212) - "THEORY is a masterfully crafted, sobering wake-up call....GAME THEORY boasts top-notch craftsmanship -- mixing and sequencing do count....but it's continuity that makes this album unique." XXL (Magazine) (p.173) - "[T]he Roots have continued to evolve and experiment with their sound. With tracks ranging from high velocity boast fests to spacey jams..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This ferociously politicized record recalls the urgency of Public Enemy's NATION OF MILLIONS....A focused tour de force..."

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