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The 13th album from this veteran group feels like “the culmination of everything it has worked toward musically and lyrically,” said Nathan Rabin in the A.V. Club. The Roots long ago earned a reputation as one of hip-hop’s best backing bands, and they now hold a steady gig as the house band of Jimmy Fallon’s late-night TV show. But they’ve stepped out of the shadows here with a concept album whose ambition is “matched by its seamless, masterful execution.” Recounting the “wrenching” life story of a street hustler who dies young, the group’s lead MC, Black Thought, proves he’s “one of hip-hop’s most underrated voices,” said Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune. The music is propelled by drummer Questlove, whose beats “come hard as a clenched fist,” until “a gorgeous neoclassical suite closes the album.” Though it’s easy to take for granted a band that’s been “so good for so long,” this—their “best full-length studio album”—shouldn’t be ignored.
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