Catalog Catch Up: The Roots feat. Common & Dice Raw – "The Show"

If you’re thinking of picking up an album, strongly consider The Roots new project How I Got Over. This Philly based group is one that I’ve always felt people respected. However, I feel many never took the time to get to know what their music actually symbolized. They’ll never be a mainstream commodity, but the LP’s has always spoken for themselves. I’ll even admit to not being their biggest fan ever. Yet, I always took the time to listen whenever they released new product. It’s called consumer confidence. That and I’ve been a Black Thought fan since he went syllable for syllable with Big Pun on “Super Lyrical.”

Found on 2008′s Rising Down, “The Show” featuring Common and Dice Raw is an excellent showing of lyricism, meshed over triumphant instrumental. Black starts the track off with verse filled with aggression while questioning what his true calling in life is. Lines like, Fightin’ a war they ain’t pay me enough to join/Behind a phrase they was crazy enough to coin/You kiddin’ me? The pursuit of happiness, life, liberty/And all type of necessities they not givin’ me, prove why he’s always been one of the genre’s most respected rhymers because of his social perceptiveness and verbal know-how.

Com was regular Com. Chicago to the fullest and never afraid to let anyone who will listen know it. Just like Black before him, Lonnie took the motivational route for his feature. In these borrowed days/It’s the rhyme and the mind that pays/The world is a Show, you define your stage. Hopefully sometime this year we can begin to get some new material from Common – especially since everyone else on the roster is dropping in September. And if we’re lucky it’ll be more Be than Universal Mind Control.

Bringing it full circle, again, go out and support The Roots by purchasing their new album. Being well worth the purchase is an understatement. Plus, Questlove is one of the coolest people in music (and on Twitter).

DL: The Roots feat. Common & Dice Raw – “The Show”