Things Fall Apart

Rolling Stone (3/4/99, pp.81-82) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...The hip-hop vanguard that's ignoring trends - musical, lyrical, sartorial - and experimenting, forging ahead, creating new directions....combining kinetic street energy with fresh, artful musical ideas..."

Spin (p.102) - "An album as badass as the live show."

Entertainment Weekly (2/19-2/26/99, p.140) - "...this straight outta-Illadellph septet maintain a high standard of verbal one-upmanship and lyrical inventiveness, spinning out trenchant inner-city dispatches with righteous fury, while the band's judicious Fender Rhodes tinkling and jazzbo fingerpicking help stoke the album's quiet storms..." - Rating: B

Q (5/99, p.114) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...amidst bubbling bass, jazz guitar licks and snare splats he [main rapper, Black Thought] celebrates original hip-hop virtues without surrendering to nostalgia..."

Alternative Press (6/99, p.108) - 4 (out of 5) - "...the Roots fuse melodic choruses and rap verses into rich, fully-realized grooves..."

Mixmag (2/99, p.105) - 4 out of 5 - "...[The Roots] strike gold with their weighty and serious third effort....there's no doubt it's all poetry."

Muzik (1/00, p.69) - Ranked #12 in Muzik's "Albums Of The Year '99"

Muzik (1/00, p.69) - "...their most accomplished album...mixing their trademark human beatbox, live instrumentation and smoothly flowing patter with a gorgeous guest appearance from Erykah Badu."

CMJ (1/10/00, p.4) - Ranked #9 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999]."

CMJ (1/25/99, p.5) - "...the Roots represent one of the few hip-hop units that genuinely raise the quality level of the genre....from throat-grabbin' raps to silky-smooth sing-a-longs, leaving cliches at the door while pumping in brand new, heavy doses of groove..."

Vibe (3/99, p.162) - "...the Roots have finally perfected their sound....The Roots have reconfigured the pyramid again, placing themselves at the top..."

The Source (2/00, p.95) - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."

The Source (3/99, p.194) - 4 Mics (out of 5) - "...THINGS FALL APART is the desolate Mad Max-ish soundscape of the post-Armageddon New World....the product of a group who has opened its eyes, and found that the second coming has already arrived in the form of social ills and artistic stagnation..."

Rap Pages (3/99, p.141) - 4 (out of 5) - "...This minimalist approach is a new avenue for the crew, but one they maneuver with ease, ever careful not to tread lightly and feign a noncommittal stance..."

Urban Latino (4/99, p.75) - 4 out of 4 - "...The Roots are not only the last Hip Hop 'band'; they are Hip Hop apostles whose love for the art form compels them to push it further musically and lyrically..."

Mojo (Publisher) (5/99, p.108) - "...the stunner they've always promised: the first candidate for hip hop album of 1999....in a hip-hop world dominated by well-worn pop samples and rap rewrites of 80's chart hits, such risk-taking should be cherished..."