Compared to Rising Down (2008), the new album by hip-hop band The Roots, How I Got Over, sounds more hopeful. Frontman and rapper Black Thought indicated in an interview that the end of the Bush presidency and the beginning of Obama's term gave them a certain feeling that they wanted to incorporate into this album. Conceptually there are indeed sentiments to be discovered that seem somewhat relieved,
… but on a production level the group still sounds dark and slightly melancholic. This is understandable, because it would be naive to think that the new president will single-handedly save the world. West Kustrapper Blu, who makes two contributions to How I Got Over, rightly notes the following in Radio Daze: “Bums pass, asking for a buck for some bagged bricks, bad shit going down on the daily”. In the track Dear God 2.0, their own interpretation of the version of rock group Monsters Of Folk, they ask where God is, as there is still so much rubbish going on. In addition, the nice groovy Right On (with a pungent, wailing vocal sample) and the bipolar The Day are also typical of a feeling that floats between two consciousnesses; hope and reality. (GL)more