Rising Down

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Rising Down
Studio album by The Roots
Released	April 29, 2008
Recorded	2006-2007
Genre	Hip hop
Length	52:05
Label	Def Jam
Producer	Questlove
Professional reviews
About.com 2008 Allmusic 2008 Robert Christgau (A) 2008 Entertainment Weekly (B-) 2008 Los Angeles Times 2008 Pitchfork Media (7.8/10) 2008 PopMatters (7/10) 2008 Rolling Stone 2008 Slant 2008 Village Voice (favorable) 2008
The Roots chronology
Game Theory (2006) Rising Down (2008) How I Got Over (2009)

Rising Down is the eighth studio album by Philadelphia-based hip hop band The Roots, released on Def Jam on April 29, 2008. It is the band's second album with the label, following 2006's Game Theory. The album's title presumably comes from William T. Vollmann's 2004 book Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Collaborations 2 Sound 3 Singles 4 Reception 5 Tracklisting 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Collaborations

The album contains a large number of guest vocalists, particularly in comparison to previous Roots albums. The album features many of the same guest vocalists as Game Theory. Peedi Crakk, Malik B., Dice Raw, P.O.R.N. and Mercedes Martinez all make repeat appearances. DC rapper Wale appears on the album, following an invite stemming from a Black Thought-tribute track called "Work" featured on his 100 Miles & Running mixtape.^[1] Other notable emcees making appearances on the album include Native Tongues Posse members Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Common, as well as Styles P and Saigon.^[2]

[edit] Sound

According to the band's producer Questlove, Rising Down, "is an electric record, more synthy. The darks are darker and the lights are lighter. But all I know is making quality hip-hop stylistically. We tried to do something we never did before. Kamal had to be the sacrificial lamb this time. The one instrument that has defined the Roots has been the Fender Rhodes. This is the first year he's had to change his instrumentation and try other sounds out. We have a bunch of keyboards and synthesizers we're using on this record. It feels like the musical equivalent of 'Blade Runner' sometimes. We've also added a horn section."

More specifically, the album's themes will be following in the darkness established in Game Theory, with Questlove referring to this album as "the most incendiary, political album of our career to date." In the same interview, he explains: "Add up the crime and high school drop-out rates in Philadelphia, plus being in your mid-30s and working 300 nights a year and this being an election year — yeah, all that’s what this album’s about.” ^[3]

[edit] Singles

The first track leaked from the album was "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)", was posted on Okayplayer on 22 February 2008. The first single was initially confirmed as "Birthday Girl", which features Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, and which leaked via Youtube, a song described by Questlove as "An easy pop song". ^[4] However, the song has gone from single to being an iTunes exclusive (bonus track), because the song didn't fit with the album's motif. “It was just sticking out like a sore thumb...Then we were going to have a 'halftime' thing where it was gonna come in the middle of the record as a break from the political thing, but that didn't work, either. Then we tried to make it the last song on the record, and that wasn't working. Then we tried to make it the hidden track, and that wasn't effective. Basically the album was complete; it starts with 'Rising Down' and it ends with 'Rising Up,' so that makes more sense to me." ^[5]

"Birthday Girl" has been included as a bonus track on iTunes and some international versions of the album, along with "The Grand Return"

[edit] Reception

Following its release, the album debuted at number 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 54,000 copies in its first week.^[6] The album was included in HipHopDX.com's Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of 2008 after being given 4.5 out of 5.^[7] As of March 31, 2009 the album has sold 163,818 copies.

[edit] Tracklisting

#	Title	Producer(s)	Performer (s)
1	"The Pow Wow"
2	"Rising Down"	Questlove	Black Thought, Mos Def, Styles P, Dice Raw (chorus)
3	"Get Busy"	The Roots, Ritz Reynolds	Black Thought, Dice Raw, Peedi Peedi DJ Jazzy Jeff (DJ scratches)
4	"@15"		Black Thought
5	"75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)"	Questlove	Black Thought
6	"Becoming Unwritten"	The Roots, Tahir Jamal, Radji Mateen, Khari Mateen	Black Thought
7	"Criminal"	The Roots, Khari Mateen	Black Thought, Truck North, Saigon
8	"I Will Not Apologize"	The Roots, Richard Nichols	Black Thought, P.O.R.N., Dice Raw, Talib Kweli
9	"I Can't Help It"	The Roots, Richard Nichols	Black Thought, Malik B, P.O.R.N., Dice Raw, Mercedes Martinez
10	"Singing Man"	The Roots, Khari Mateen	Black Thought, P.O.R.N., Truck North, Dice Raw
11	"Unwritten"	The Roots, Tahir Jamal, Radji Mateen, Khari Mateen	Black Thought, Mercedes Martinez
12	"Lost Desire"	The Roots, Khari Mateen	Black Thought, Malik B., Talib Kweli
13	"The Show"	The Roots, Tahir Jamal	Black Thought, Common, Dice Raw
14	"Rising Up"	Questlove, James Poyser	Black Thought, Wale, Chrisette Michele
15	"Birthday Girl" (bonus track)*	The Roots, Richard Nichols, Shane Clark	Black Thought, Patrick Stump, Shane Clark, Kelli Scarr
16	"The Grand Return" (bonus track)*		Black Thought, Dice Raw, Wadud Ahmad
17	"Pow Wow 2"

• Bonus tracks included on International versions of the album.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Rising Down at Discogs
• Rising Down at Metacritic
• Album Review at Vibe
• The Roots Issue Tracks of Their Fears, and Defiance at The New York Times

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