The Roots, one of my favorite groups of all time, recently announced the December 6th release of their new album undun and these innovative, lyrical, musical geniuses are taking it to a “whole ‘nother level” as this album is described to be “a sort of novel in audio form.”
undun will re-tell the short life of Redford Stephens (1977–1999). Who is Redford Stephens? Your guess or internet search is as good as mine. What I do know is that Redford Stephens will play the character of a child who has opted for path in violence.
Drummer, ?uestlove, explains, “undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic, primitive, bug-eyed gunrunner like Tupac’s character, Bishop in Juice… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all do?”
Color me officially excited. The first single, “Make My,” can be previewed here. Mark your calendars for December 6th.
Here’s the track list:
- Sleep
- Make My
- One Time
- Kool On
- The Jump
- Stomp
- Lighthouse
- I Remember
- Tip the Scale
- Redford
tiffany says:
Ahh, the “concept” album…those can be real tricky to pull off. Some recent endeavors like Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid I thought was waaay too gimmicky, but i “got” the campy, tongue in cheek misogyny/satanism that Tyler, the creator was trying to do on Goblin. If misogyny/satanism can be campy and tongue in cheek. :). I am feeling the jazzy, chillness of Make My, and if anyone has the musicality and credibility to pull it off it would be The Roots.
Music trade for music trade, Ben Howard, a british crooner, has been on heavy rotation on my ipod, well since i’m a loser, non techi who doesn’t even own an ipod…anyhoo, you will love his album, Every Kingdom, my faves are Keep Your Head Up and Only Love.
kenn says:
I sampled some of Ben Howard’s music and I’m digging him a lot. Thank you for sharing, Tiff. I was apprehensive when you labeled him as a “crooner.” I’m glad my per-judgement didn’t match what I actually heard.
You might want to check out anything from Blind Pilot and Turin Brakes. His flavor reminds me of those bands and I love them too.
tiffany says:
I really like what I’ve heard thus far of both bands, thanks, i have been bored with my music and i love having a new “music love”. i’m totally digging Emergency 72 by Turin Brakes. i guess using crooner to describe Ben Howard is a bit of a misnomer, i just like using that word. 🙂 (Oh and thanks for giving me an opportunity to use misnomer in a sentence, i love that word too)