Top 10 of 2010: The Roots–How I Got Over

#3

The fantastic title track

I would put side A of How I Got Over up against the first half of any record released this year. This is an album with a great deal of purpose and the first few tracks establish that immediately. In the words of Spin Magazine”s Charles Aaron - "You'd have to rewind early-'90s Scarface or Wu-Tang for such convincingly cold-eyed hip-hop existentialism.”

The eclectic selection of guest appearances on this album take it to another level. Monsters of Folk, Joanna Newsom, members of the Dirty Projectors and even John Ledged all make incredible contributions. My favorite guest spot though, belongs to STS who lays down an incredible flow on “Right On” – coincidentally my favorite song on this record. Some critics have likened this record to Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and Maybe that’s why I love this album so much. I think the comparison is dead on in terms of the urban alienation that is at the heart of both albums. Like Superfly this is an album that no serious music fan should be without.