Favorite Album 1999: Things Fall Apart -- The Roots

The Legendary Roots Crew are one of a kind, and this is their most realized body of work, in my mind. Everything from the instrumentation to the Black Thoughts conscious and hard hitting lyrics and flow -- everything that makes the Roots amazing really makes this record shine. Few albums manage to simultaneously be this informative, political, and downright groovy: it's the kind of shit you can bump at a barbecue or to inspire your mind. It's just a solid, quality album and a must-own for any hip-hop heads. Plus, there's a bunch of nice little factoids nestled in:

-This was the first album Philly native and Roc rocker Beanie Siegel appeared on, rapping alongside Dice Raw on the track "Adrenaline!". He snuck onto the album after a week-long jam session with the band.
-Eve (at the time, signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath label, and known as Eve of Destruction) also made her debut appearance on Things Fall Apart, on the track, "You Got Me".
-Chicago's own Common appears on the track "Act Too (Love of my Life)", who's verse is a continuation of his song "I Used To Love H.E.R.", where he speaks of hip-hop as a woman.
-The outside musicians who contributed to the album (mainly D'Angelo, James Poyser, and Jay Dee) went on to form the Soulquarians collective with ?uestlove and Pino Palladino.
-The last song to be included to the final selection was "Double Trouble", featuring Mos Def. Initially, the song was supposed to feature a guest appearance from Mos' Black Star partner, Talib Kweli but due to the format of the track, it was decided to make it a throwback to the Run D.M.C./EPMD tag-team style of rap, with just two MCs.

Awesome.

Next week: 2000
Hint: Clava Studios

So we're entering a new decade next time: recap? Recap.

1987: Erik B. and Rakim -- Paid in Full
1988: Sonic Youth -- Daydream Nation
1989: Beastie Boys -- Paul's Boutique
1990: Fugazi -- Repeater + 3 Songs
1991: A Tribe Called Quest -- The Low End Theory
1992: Dr. Dre -- The Chronic
1993: Archers of Loaf -- Icky Mettle
1994: blink-182 -- Cheshire Cat
1995: Radiohead -- The Bends
1996: DJ Shadow -- Entroducing...
1997: Elliott Smith -- Either/Or
1998: Neutral Milk Hotel -- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
1999: The Roots -- Things Fall Apart.

Nice. Quite nice.