It’s been a little over a year since The Roots last full band release when they hit the market in 2010 with the critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated How I Got Over. Since then they’ve been very busy bees.  The new album from The Roots entitled undun is set to hit the market on December 6th. Long story short, if you have surgery scheduled for that day, reschedule it to go to the store, buy the CD and plan to spend many hours dissecting this true masterpiece of music.

undun boasts 14 tracks, but hard core purists longing for an album that lasts the length of an Illadelph Halflife will be frustrated, but by no means unhappy with new music from one of the greatest bands anywhere (not just in late night) with just under 40 minutes of music.  Five of the 14 tracks clock in under 2 minutes, but they are those short gems that Roots fans have come to appreciate. Not to mention that The Roots have spent years of their career now creating those short “sandwiches” as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

undun is the story of Redford Stephens and it’s a brief story of his life that has also been accompanied by video clips that have been created to help the story along. Let’s take it track by track, which has been done before during early listens on OkayPlayer. But now that we’re upon the final edits of the CD, it’s worth a re-review.

Listen to The Roots undun album here via NPR.
Read along with all of the lyrics here. 

1) Dun

This instrumental/noise track features the sounds of a crying baby with an overdub of a flatline tone which immediately brings you into the story of a child born into a motherless world.   It’s then brought in with a nice chord progression hearkening back to early Roots albums.

2) Sleep

The first track has Redford discovering his mortality right off the bat. The spooky chord progressions draped with a haunting chorus performed by Aaron Livingston “I’ve lost a lot of sleep to dreams / And I do not miss them yet / I wouldn’t wish them on the worst of enemies / Let them burn, go from here / Like when autumn leaves.” This song is a tad hard to explain, but it’s mood filled heavy feel is a perfect introduction to the journey of Redford.

3) Make My (available now on Amazon)

The first track released from the album is Make My and your first hint that this album will continue the recipe that was so successful with their recent albums of poignant rhymes encapsulated between choruses sung by unexpected vocalists that brag tricky melodies that would make most songwriters jealous.  The track finishes with a nice instrumental groove that is worthy of a loop of its own with a fat strolling bass groove. We begin to realize that Redford is an insomniac of sorts as his battles with sleep continue primarily as a result of his life and stress. “Addicted to the green if I don’t ball I get the shakes / I’d give it all for a peace of mind for heaven sakes.”

4) One Time

This song could almost be considered the tip of the hill with the upbeat smash beat from Questlove. This song features Phonte and Dice Raw adding their voices to the drama of the streets explaining their prowess of the game they have to play to survive. It adds a hard street stomp that you could sway to and having Phonte, Dice Raw and Black Thought sharing rhymes on the track means lyrical mastery from front to back.

5) Kool On

This song brings Greg Porn and Truck North to the mike with Black Thought bragging again on their superiority of the game that they’ve been forced to play.  Black Thought is truly pulling his poetic side dropping lyrics like “Not in the lime light or needed for the crime right / No boasts, just bodied, chalked close to the line tight” creating stunning definitive visuals to the listener. All is draped with nice tight guitar riffs and a flowing chorus of the Bob Dylan-esque “Stars are made to shine”

6) The OtherSide

The OtherSide track is a retrospect of Redford’s actions as he realizes where the path is leading to. This song brings the under-appreciated Bilal Oliver to the mix singing a swooning chorus of “We’re all on a journey / Down the hall of memories / Don’t worry about what you ain’t got / leave with a little bit of dignity“.  This song was originally called The Jump on the original recordings, but grew to be Redford’s song of reflection. The album slowly becomes more West Coast feeling that is even more prevalent on the next song..

7) Stomp

This song brings Greg Porn back along with the instantly recognizable Just Blaze. The song boasts very West Coast sounding piano stabs in the vein of Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic 2011 (Still D.R.E. in particular).  In this part of Redford’s journey, he’s exited out of the retrospect and gone back into the “I do this because” mode and has now added a militant stance that will be his demise.

Lighthouse

Dice Raw and Black Thought take over the controls now as the paranoia creeps back in for Redford.  There’s a feeling of helplessness in the lyrics as if even Redford cried for help, there wouldn’t be anyone there to even hear it or care. Hence the chorus lyrics, “And no one’s in the lighthouse / You’re face down in the ocean / And no one’s in the lighthouse / And it seems like you just screamed / It’s no one there to hear the sound / And it may feel like no one’s there / That cares if you drown / Face down in the ocean.” Even though the song is desperate in content, the song is strangely upbeat with nice fuzz-wah keyboards painting the melody over the background just enough to keep things out of focus.

9) I Remember

We’re back in reflection for Redford as he looks at his life and reflects back on people he’s hurt and choices he’s made. The song is a mid-paced song with a beautiful stutter beat chorus. You’re taken on a journey back home from the streets and the thought process that ensues courtesy of Black Thought.

10) Tip The Scale

Dice Raw and Black Thought close out the lyrical content of the album as they rip this song up with great lyrics such as Dice Raw’s closing “Only two ways out, Digging tunnels or digging graves out” which foreshadows Redford’s demise and supported by the accompanying video. The song speaks more to the unfairness of the world which is poetic in light of the Occupy protests. “Some live life just living well / I live life tryna tip the scale my way“.

11) Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappou)
12) Possibility (2nd Movement)
13) Will To Power (3rd Movement)
14) Finality (4th Movement)

These last 4 tracks go by quickly, but they use the best of that time with a beautiful string section accompaniment. The pieces are loosely based on Sulfjan Stevens instrumental work on his Michigan album. The first song entitled Redford (track 11) was even performed by Sulfjan Stevens on piano, which yet further showcases Questlove’s never ending journey to find the most intriguing musical artists out there. Every album for the past 5 albums have featured just-breaking underground artists and The Roots do a great job at finding those pieces of the puzzle that add even more avant garde to the mix.

As mentioned, the album will be available on December 6th at pretty much all music distributors and of course Amazon which already has a home for it (sans any audio clips). However, if you’d like to hear the album in its entirety, NPR has released a full album preview here.  We also have compiled all of the videos, photos and lyrics for the album on our site here that serves as the perfect partner for the album review.

All in all, we’re giving this album a 5 out of 5 stars.  Many people will scoff at the 5 star rating due to the length of the album, but you have to remember that considering that they work non-stop as Jimmy Fallon‘s house band, DJ weekly events, create multiple albums with other artists such as John Legend (the Grammy award winning Wake Up!), Duffy, Betty Wright, their fans should be very satisfied with this release.  Reschedule that appendectomy or heart surgery and get to the store to pick up this unbelievable new work of art that is one of their most cohesive works to date since the likes of Phrenology.

We give The Roots undun 5 out of 5 afros.

Listen to The Roots undun album here via NPR.
Read along with all of the lyrics here. 

The Roots new album undun is set to release December 6th, but they’ve made sure that you get tons of tidbits along the way including photos, videos, lyrics, sneak peeks and much more. So to keep you from killing yourself and going place to place to get it all, we’ve collected their offerings and put it on one big page. Here you go!

To start, the album was originally slated to be just 10 tracks, but a photo released by Questlove showed the demo CD displaying 11 tracks. And now that they’ve allowed the album to be pre-ordered via iTunes, it’s now showing 14 tracks. No notice on what are segue tracks, instrumentals, etc, but here are the tracks as they have been made available on iTunes as of today;

1 – Dun
2 – Sleep
3 – Make My (feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw)
4 – One Time (feat. Phonte & Dice Raw)
5 – Kool On (feat. Greg Porn & Truck North)
6 – The OtherSide (feat. Bilal Oliver & Greg Porn)
7 – Stomp (feat. Greg Porn)
8 – Lighthouse (feat. Dice Raw)
9 – I Remember
10 – Tip the Scale (feat. Dice Raw)
11 – Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou) – Sufjan Stevens
12 – Possibility (2nd Movement)
13 – Will to Power (3rd Movement)
14 – Finality (4th Movement)
Digital Booklet – Undun

They have additionally released Make My (feAturing Big K.R.I.T.) on SoundCloud and you can listen to that here;

They have also released videos for Make My, Tip The Scale and Stomp.  Since there’s a story being told with this album, here they are in order, even though there are songs in between these;

Make My

Stomp

Tip The Scales

Plus, here is a sneak peek at the photo shoot that took place to initially promote the video;

And lastly, they have been releasing lyrics from the album at the rate of a couple per day off and on and now they’ve stopped which either means that these are all of the songs that have lyrics and the rest are instrumental or they’re making us wait with baited breath. Regardless, here are the song lyrics that they’ve released put in the order that they appear on the album. And to break it up some, we’ve inserted some photos that were also released. Enjoy!

Track 1 – Dun (No lyrics provided)

Track 2 – Sleep

Verse 1 (Aaron Livingston)
Like when autumn leaves fall
Down from the trees
There goes, my honey bee
I’ve lost a lot of sleep to dreams
And I do not miss them yet
I wouldn’t wish them on than worst of enemies
Let them burn, go from here
Like when autumn leaves

Verse 2 (Black Thought)
To catch a thief
Who stole the soul I prayed to keep
Insomniac
Bad dreams/Got me losing
Sleep
I’m dead tired
My mind playing tricks
Deceit
A face in the glass /Unable to admit defeat
All that I am all that I was is history
The past unraveled adding insult to this injury
I’m fighting the battle for the soul of the century
Destiny is everything that I pretend to be
Look, and what I did came back to me eventually
The music played on and…
Told me I was meant to be awake
It’s unresolved
Like everything I had at stake
Illegal activity controls
My black symphony
Orchestrated like it happened
Incidentally
Oh… there I go
From a man to memory
Damn
I wonder if my fam will remember me

Verse 3 (Aaron Livingston)
I’ve lost a lot of sleep to dreams
And I do not miss them yet
I wouldn’t wish them on the worst of enemies
Let them burn, go from here
Like when autumn leaves

Track 3 – Make My (feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw)

I did it all for the money Lord

It’s what it seems
But in the world of night terrors-it’s
Hard to dream
They hollering cash rules everything
Let’s call it cream
Cause when it rises to the top you get…
The finer things
Ocean fronts, rolling blunts
With model chick and saying grace over lobster and steak
Like please forgive us for riding Benzes with camera plates
Too busy looking backwards for jackers to pump my brakes
For help sign to symbolize the live that hunger takes
Addicted to the green if I don’t ball I get the shakes
I’d give it all for a peace of mind for heaven sakes
My heart so heavy that the ropes that hold my casket break
Cause everything that wasn’t for me I had to chase
I had to take

They told me that the ends would justify the means
they told me at the end, it would justify the dreams
That I’ve had since a child, maybe I’ll throw in the towel
And make my, make my, make my, make my
Departure from the world

Tryna control the fits of panic
Unwritten and unraveled
It’s the dead man’s pedantic
Whatever..
See it’s really just a matter of semantics
When everybody’s fresh out of collateral to damage and…
My splayin got me prayin like a mantis
I begin to vanish feel the pull of the blank canvas
I’m contemplating that special dedication
To whoever it concern…My letter of resignation
Fading back to black… my dark coronation
The heat of the day …the long robe of Muerte
That soul is in the atmosphere like airplay
If there’s a heaven I cant find the stairway

Chorus
Oohs

Track 4 – One Time (feat. Phonte & Dice Raw)

Verse 1 (Phonte)

Yo, the spirit in the sky scream homicide
But it was time to ride
Then some niggas funny talking and too much money talking
We make em economize
Real rap – no tails spinning, such is the life of a
Kam-I-Ka-Ze pilot
We wylin out of control until we all make the funny papers like Comic-Con
Feared in all streets so, if you ever see me out in y’all streets
Find another one to occupy
I never hope for the best
I wish a nigga would
Turn around and walk away
I wish a nigga could
Listen to my instincts and say fuck the rest
But once you’ve had the best better ain’t as good
Weak-heartedness cannot be involved
Stick to the script nigga fuck your improv
Like the samurai
The street’s Hammurabi Code
Play your part shut the fuck up and do as I was told

Chorus#1

I was always late for the bus
Just once can I be on time
Then I start to think what’s the rush
Who wants to be on time
Feeling unlucky and if I ever got lucky it was one time
In this crazy world

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Not a thing I fear besides fear itself
This is clearly a lesson learned for someone else
Reach for the crown of thorns upon the shelf
Cross around my neck
I’ve been taught by stealth
Capture this moment in time… it’s a smash and grab
And where my party people y’all finna have a blast
You say goodbye… I say hello first and last
Hello-Hello… Now all of y’all elevate your glass
To an example of what time will do to you
When those nameless things just keep on eluding you
When shit is new to you and lies is true to you
Words of suspects-usual… coming though to you
Man, I guess if I was ever lucky it was one time
Then I went missing looking for the sublime
A nigga stayed low left the ladder unclimbed
Time after time, verse blank, the line unrhymed

Chorus #2

You ever wonder what’s the big fuss..
For everyone be on time
What’s the big deal, why do they feel
The need to have as marching on line
Feeling unlucky and if I’d ever got lucky it was one time
In this crazy world

Verse 3 (Dice Raw)

I wonder when you die do you hear harps and bagpipes
If you born on the other side of the crack pipe
Niggas learn math just to understand the crack price
Then drive in head first like the jack knife
Cause out here, yo you niggas can’t belly flop
If you wanna make the noise inside your belly stop
One time means being on the front line
Being on the front line means ducking one time
The pendulum swinging my way- couldn’t be more blind
Niggas talk to the cops? Not even one time
Cause we all going down just like the subprime
Or a cheap ass half gallon of Ballantine
But hopping over gates to escape is sublime
Then through the alley way and down to the sub line
Tales from the streets
A life of high crime
To make it to the bottom
Such a high climb

Chorus #1

Track 5 – Kool On (feat. Greg Porn & Truck North)

Ooh
Come get your kool on
Stars are made to shine (4xs)
Stars are made to shine

Verse 1 (Greg Porn)

I’m in the double G, three-piece tux
Screaming dressed to kill
Hope somebody call my bluff
It’s a full house… sipping on a royal flush
Two queens is on my cuffs
Good times is in the cards
Living on borrowed time
I’m paying the extra charge
To feel like something small is worth a hundred large
Swag is on retard, charm is on massage
Wit is on guard, I challenge you to a duel
Who needs a chain when every thoughts a jewel
God bless the weirdo when everyone’s a fool
Fuck a genie and three wishes
I just want a bottle, a place to write my novel
I am like heroin to those that hear a rhyme and think
How do you find this upper echelon this time
Let’s toast to better days a beautiful mind and a flow that never age

Chorus

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Yo, I’m never sleeping like I’m on meth-amphtamines
Move like my enemy ten steps ahead of me
Say my reputation precedes me like a pedigree
Gentlemanly gangsta steez beyond the seventies
Holdin fast money without running out of patience
Move in silence without running up in places
Cake by the layers
Rich but never famous
Hustle anonymous still remain nameless
In hindsight gold come in bars like a klondike
The minute before the storm hit is what I’m calm like
Suited and booted for a shooting like it’s prom night
It’s suicide right pursuers tried like
To no avail and a heroes what they died like
I’ve got em waiting on the news like I’m Cronkite
Not in the lime light or needed for the crime right
No boasts, just bodied, chalked close to the line tight

Chorus

Verse 3 (Truck North)

Yeah outside where the killers and the dealers swarm
And inside they dressed up like it’s a telethon
Black tie affair but they holding heavy arms
Straight cash with a stash in the cummerbund
More Bacardi and the bouncers of the party hum
Riots erupting around and still we party on
Made the quantum leap to a king from a pawn
But it was destined the conclusion was foregone
Serenade of the former slave promenade
Cause them long days in the sun
Have now become shade
So we doing high speeds in a narrow lane
Say cheese
Free falling from the aeroplane
Another feather in the cap for all the years
That we spent in luxuries lap
Without looking back
Cause memories could sting like hornet
Damn it felt good to see people up on it

Track 6 – The OtherSide (feat. Bilal Oliver & Greg Porn)
Originally called “The Jump” 

Baby Come Back

Verse 1 (Black Thought)

Yo, we obviously need to tone it down a bit
Running round town spending time like it’s counterfeit
Everybody catching hay fever like sinuses
Step in my arena let me show y’all who the highness is
You might say I could be doing something positive
Humbled head down low and broke like promises
Soaking and broken in a joke like comics is
Not enough paper to be paying folks compliments
But when that paper got low so did my tolerance
And it ain’t no truth in a dare without the consequence
Listen if it not for these hood inventions
Id just be another kid from the block with no intentions
On the dock of that bay serving a life sentence
Even if I’m going to hell I’m gonna make an entrance
Yeah let em know I’m getting cheese like omletes is
But I’m the toast of the town like Thomas is

Chorus (Sung by Bilal Oliver)

We’re all on a journey
Down the hall of memories
Don’t worry bout what you ain’t got
Leave with a little bit of dignity
Never loved what I had
Always felt like I deserved more
But when I
Make it to the other side
Make it to the other side
That’s when we’ll settle up the score

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Yo , we did this in remembrance of
Faces from the past
We no longer have an image of
Carrying cold blood hearts
That never been for love
Brothers keep going for theirs but never get enough
World travelers that seen it all
And did enough
Only to return to learn
The world wasn’t big enough
Damn, how long has it been?
I guess the jig is up
Now all I know is I’m about to wake this nigga up
Yeah that hindsight 20/20 now niggas dead on the money
Trying to take something from me
It’s a wrap like mummy
Undone I am becoming and…
When he’s tired of running
Through the layers of the onion
He’ll probably shed a tear
Cause they’ll be no more fast times
Just his weak mind scrolled out like a bad sign
He never had enough and got confused when they asked why
Life is only a moment in time and it passed by

Chorus
Verse 3 (P.O.R.N.)

I’m sitting on top of the world ready to jump off
Thinking of various ways to break law
Thinking that enough is enough but still I want more
Thinking of how I’m playing with fire tht burned my young boy
By any means necessary… don’t give a damn
So every night I’m on a flight that never lands
Be an asshole when the shit hits the fan
Or bet your life on a bluff and a bad hand
Can’t win/can’t lose
Get ‘em gassed leave em leaking fuel
Either way the market moves
Cash rules kings, queens, prince and princess
Every night I’m crossing a line that ain’t the finish
Every thought is dark as a glass of fucking Guinness
To far gone to come back to my senses
Now I’m on the edge of my bed making love to my meds
Every moments like a pistol to my head
When I’m getting mine

Track 7 – Stomp (feat. Greg Porn)

(him)
It’s about flesh and blood
It’s about heart beat that beats strong
It’s about passion
That is unyielding
And I want you men to know today
It’s your hour
It is your time
It is your moment
Go get it

Verse 1 (Black Thought)

Yeah speaking of pieces of a man
Staring at a future in the creases of my hand
It reads like a final letter I’m leaving for my fam but
It’s written in language they will never understand
A late repentant
Never deviating from a plan
I drive by headed for the valley of the damned
The Wheels spin, I’m looking for a sacrificial lamb
Then roll tactics like a soldier out in the Sudan
Listen…
Was this a matter of flesh and blood
Yes it was
Does it matter who win and lose
Yes it does
It ain’t about the most blessed love
When you return to the essence
What is it back to the essence of
Greatness I wasnt in the prescence of
Cause you was fake and never measured up
You just a nigga on his regular
But how far am I ahead of ya
It just as easily coulda been me instead of ya

(Just Blaze)

We gone fight till we can’t fight no more
Right right
You cant fight no more
You gone lie down and bleed a while
You gone get up
Fight some more
Want you say it with me
Repeat it after me when I say it
We gone fight

Verse 2 (Greg Porn)

Fuck getting fuck
Immaculate conception
Now what’s beef ain’t even a question
Calico kisses, cold blood and crime tape
Flirt with death every night it’s a blind date
One night stand paybacks a bitch
Shit have you skinny dipping in a pool of your piss
Blood sweat and tears broken teeth and spit
Put the barrel in your mouth
Blow the devil a kiss
Put the knife in ya back cut down to the red meat
Daddy should’ve let me be a stain on the bed sheets
I’m one shot short of a Molotov cocktail
Kick in the door like welcome to my world
I’m an evil genius when it comes to this dumb shit
Half of the time ima keep it one hundred
Don’t play chicken when I’m driving them crazy
Get hit in the wing thigh breast or drumstick
We like

Track 8 – Lighthouse (feat. Dice Raw)

Pre-chorus Rhyme (Dice Raw)
If you can‘t swizzim then ya bound to drizzown
Passing out life jackets bout to go didown
Get down with the captain or go down with the ship
Before the dark abyss I’m gon’ hit you wit dis (2xs)

Chorus (Dice Raw)
And no one’s in the lighthouse
You’re face down in the ocean
And no one’s in the lighthouse
And it seems like you just screamed
It’s no one there to hear the sound
And it may feel like there’s no one there
That cares if you drown
Face down in the ocean

Verse 1 (Dice Raw)

Smoking cheap weed sipping on cheap vodka
You pick your poison down Davey Jones’ locker
It’s rum we be wanting
By the tons my consumption
Take a look at my lungs and my liver
It’s disgusting
Take a look at the man in the mirror
We start fussing
Only one person gets hurt when throwing the punches
Me
And the man behind the glass just laughs
The waves come over my head and just crash
My hand start bleeding water starts receeding
A feeling comes into my heart I start believing that
I actually might survive through the evening
Survive on my own thoughts of suicide that’s competing
With thoughts of tryna stay alive which been weakened
By the feeling of putting on a smile while being beaten
The fear of drowning still diving in the deep end
The waters carried me so far you can’t reach ‘em
And it feels like there’s no one

Chorus
Verse 2 (Black Thought)

After the love is lost
Friendship dissolves
And even blood is lost
Where did it begin
The way we did each other wrong
Troubled water neither one of us could swim across
I stopped holding my breath
Now I am better off
There without a trace
And you in my head
All the halted motion of a rebel without a pause
What it do is done till you dead and gone
The grim reaper telling me to swim deeper
Where the people go to lo and behold the soul keeper
I’m not even breaking out in a sweat
Or cold fever but
I’m never paying up on my debt or tolls either
I’ll leave the memories here I won’t need them
If I stop thinking and lie, now that’s freedom
Your body’s part of the Maritime museum
Face down in the past is where I’m being

Chorus
Reprise

Track 9 – I Remember

Verse 1 (Black Thought)
I drew a 2 of hearts from a deck of cards
A stock trick from my empty repertoire
Another hopeless story never read at all
I’m better off looking for the end
Where the credits are
It’s a pain living life against the grain
I’m looking back and y’all look the same
Troy, Mark, and little what’s his name
Memory is rerunning it all
It’s the flight of my fall and it’s right on the wall

Chorus

I remember
Can you remember?
How it was
I do
Remember, do you? (2xs)

Verse 2 (Black Thought)
I used to ride the train to the same two stops
And look at the graffiti on the rooftops
Like the same song playing on the jukebox
Joint called “Faded Polaroids In A Shoebox”
Regardless to what the cadence is
It can’t be forgotten like old acquaintances
I realize how depressing of a place it is
And when I notice my reflection whose face it is

Chorus

Musical break

Chorus

It’s only human to express the way you really feel
But that same humanity is my Achilles’ heel
A leopard can’t change his spots and never will
So I’m forever ill
Now I can never chill
What’s keeping me from breaking out like Benadryl
When my baptism of fire resulted in a kill
Sometimes it’s as cut and dry as a business deal
You gotta cause the blood of a close friend to spill
But you remember still

Track 10 - Tip the Scale (feat. Dice Raw)

Chorus (Dice Raw)

I’m a side of suicide
Heads or Tails
Some think life is living hell
Some live life just living well
I live life tryna tip the scale
My Way, my way
My Way, my way
Verse 1 (Black Thought)
Yo, I’m always early
I never take off cause I got a job
Rob Peter to pay Paul
Now I realize it’s the winner that takes all
Do what I gotta do cause I can’t take loss
Picture me living life as if I’m some animal
That consumes it’s own dreams like I’m a cannibal
I won’t accept failure unless it’s mechanical
But still the alcohol mixed with the botanical
I guess I be referred to the owners manual full of loaners
Full of all the homeless throwaways and the stoners
Soldiers of the streets with 8th grade diplomas
And the world awaiting their shoulders as a bonus
Look, let he without sin live without sin
Until then, I’ll be doing dirty jobs like swamp men
Counting the faces of those that might have been
It’s like living that life but I won’t live that life again

Chorus
Verse 2 (Dice Raw)

Lotta niggas go to prison
How many come out Malcolm X
I know I’m not ….shit
Can’t even talk about the rest
Famous last words
You under arrest
Will I get popped tonight
It’s anybody’s guess
I guess a nigga need to stay cunning
I guess when the cops coming need to start running
I wont make the same mistakes
From my last run in
You either done doing crime now or you done in
I got a brother on the run and one in
Wrote me a letter he said when you comin
Shit man I thought the goal’s to stay out
Back against the wall
Then shoot your way out
Getting money’s a style that never plays out
Till you in a box
And your stash money’s paid out
The scales of justice
Ain’t equally weighed out
Only two ways out
Digging tunnels or digging graves out

Chorus

Track 11 – Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou) – Sufjan Stevens -  (No lyrics provided)
Track 12 – Possibility (2nd Movement) -  (No lyrics provided)
Track 13 – Will to Power (3rd Movement) -  (No lyrics provided)
Track 14 – Finality (4th Movement) -  (No lyrics provided)

So that should be enough to get any Roots fan excited. Time to pre-order that CD about now. And again, all of this info was obtained from OkayPlayer, so that would be where to tune in to get more up-to-date info.

yep, more photos and more lyrics. we post ‘em as they leak ‘em. What can we say? We love The Roots.  This lyric leak is of the songs Lighthouse and I Remember from the new undun album. And here are the ones from earlier and the ones before that are here and here. That means there’s only two more left for them to share from the 10 track album.

However, Questlove “leaked” the album cover artwork for undun and may have leaked info about an extra track. The master CD in the pic shows 11 tracks and Eric Stats track by track coverage here only discusses 10. So we blew up the photo in Photoshop and compared Eric’s listing to what’s sitting on Questlove‘s laptop and the missing track appears to be the first track called Dun.  There is also a song called Baby Come Back that is the song Jump renamed (our guess) since it falls in the track listing that Eric shared. So Dun could be an intro of sorts, but the time shown appears to be 1:46 which is too long for a segue. Guess we’ll see. See for yourself;

So the next post we’ll put all of them together with the photos. But for now, enjoy the spurts.

“Lighthouse”

Pre-chorus Rhyme (Dice Raw)
If you can‘t swizzim then ya bound to drizzown
Passing out life jackets bout to go didown
Get down with the captain or go down with the ship
Before the dark abyss I’m gon’ hit you wit dis (2xs)

Chorus (Dice Raw)
And no one’s in the lighthouse
You’re face down in the ocean
And no one’s in the lighthouse
And it seems like you just screamed
It’s no one there to hear the sound
And it may feel like there’s no one there
That cares if you drown
Face down in the ocean

Verse 1 (Dice Raw)

Smoking cheap weed sipping on cheap vodka
You pick your poison down Davey Jones’ locker
It’s rum we be wanting
By the tons my consumption
Take a look at my lungs and my liver
It’s disgusting
Take a look at the man in the mirror
We start fussing
Only one person gets hurt when throwing the punches
Me
And the man behind the glass just laughs
The waves come over my head and just crash
My hand start bleeding water starts receeding
A feeling comes into my heart I start believing that
I actually might survive through the evening
Survive on my own thoughts of suicide that’s competing
With thoughts of tryna stay alive which been weakened
By the feeling of putting on a smile while being beaten
The fear of drowning still diving in the deep end
The waters carried me so far you can’t reach ‘em
And it feels like there’s no one

Chorus

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

After the love is lost
Friendship dissolves
And even blood is lost
Where did it begin
The way we did each other wrong
Troubled water neither one of us could swim across
I stopped holding my breath
Now I am better off
There without a trace
And you in my head
All the halted motion of a rebel without a pause
What it do is done till you dead and gone
The grim reaper telling me to swim deeper
Where the people go to lo and behold the soul keeper
I’m not even breaking out in a sweat
Or cold fever but
I’m never paying up on my debt or tolls either
I’ll leave the memories here I won’t need them
If I stop thinking and lie, now that’s freedom
Your body’s part of the Maritime museum
Face down in the past is where I’m being

Chorus

Reprise

“I Remember”

Verse 1 (Black Thought)
I drew a 2 of hearts from a deck of cards
A stock trick from my empty repertoire
Another hopeless story never read at all
I’m better off looking for the end
Where the credits are
It’s a pain living life against the grain
I’m looking back and y’all look the same
Troy, Mark, and little what’s his name
Memory is rerunning it all
It’s the flight of my fall and it’s right on the wall

Chorus

I remember
Can you remember?
How it was
I do
Remember, do you? (2xs)

Verse 2 (Black Thought)
I used to ride the train to the same two stops
And look at the graffiti on the rooftops
Like the same song playing on the jukebox
Joint called “Faded Polaroids In A Shoebox”
Regardless to what the cadence is
It can’t be forgotten like old acquaintances
I realize how depressing of a place it is
And when I notice my reflection whose face it is

Chorus

Musical break

Chorus

It’s only human to express the way you really feel
But that same humanity is my Achilles’ heel
A leopard can’t change his spots and never will
So I’m forever ill
Now I can never chill
What’s keeping me from breaking out like Benadryl
When my baptism of fire resulted in a kill
Sometimes it’s as cut and dry as a business deal
You gotta cause the blood of a close friend to spill
But you remember still

Tip the Scales

I’m a side of suicide
Heads or tails

Yes, they keep coming and as long as they keep coming, we’ll keep posting them. Don’t like it, then scroll your ass down the page. The Roots release two more lyrics for two more songs from their new album undun set to drop December 6th. And they also released another photo of Black Thought from their undun photo shoot. Enjoy both. And if you missed the first 4 lyrics, they are here and here.

“The Jump”

Baby Come Back

Verse 1 (Black Thought)

Yo, we obviously need to tone it down a bit
Running round town spending time like it’s counterfeit
Everybody catching hay fever like sinuses
Step in my arena let me show y’all who the highness is
You might say I could be doing something positive
Humbled head down low and broke like promises
Soaking and broken in a joke like comics is
Not enough paper to be paying folks compliments
But when that paper got low so did my tolerance
And it ain’t no truth in a dare without the consequence
Listen if it not for these hood inventions
Id just be another kid from the block with no intentions
On the dock of that bay serving a life sentence
Even if I’m going to hell I’m gonna make an entrance
Yeah let em know I’m getting cheese like omletes is
But I’m the toast of the town like Thomas is

Chorus (Sung by Bilal Oliver)

We’re all on a journey
Down the hall of memories
Don’t worry bout what you ain’t got
Leave with a little bit of dignity
Never loved what I had
Always felt like I deserved more
But when I
Make it to the other side
Make it to the other side
That’s when we’ll settle up the score

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Yo , we did this in remembrance of
Faces from the past
We no longer have an image of
Carrying cold blood hearts
That never been for love
Brothers keep going for theirs but never get enough
World travelers that seen it all
And did enough
Only to return to learn
The world wasn’t big enough
Damn, how long has it been?
I guess the jig is up
Now all I know is I’m about to wake this nigga up
Yeah that hindsight 20/20 now niggas dead on the money
Trying to take something from me
It’s a wrap like mummy
Undone I am becoming and…
When he’s tired of running
Through the layers of the onion
He’ll probably shed a tear
Cause they’ll be no more fast times
Just his weak mind scrolled out like a bad sign
He never had enough and got confused when they asked why
Life is only a moment in time and it passed by

Chorus

Verse 3 (P.O.R.N.)

I’m sitting on top of the world ready to jump off
Thinking of various ways to break law
Thinking that enough is enough but still I want more
Thinking of how I’m playing with fire tht burned my young boy
By any means necessary… don’t give a damn
So every night I’m on a flight that never lands
Be an asshole when the shit hits the fan
Or bet your life on a bluff and a bad hand
Can’t win/can’t lose
Get ‘em gassed leave em leaking fuel
Either way the market moves
Cash rules kings, queens, prince and princess
Every night I’m crossing a line that ain’t the finish
Every thought is dark as a glass of fucking Guinness
To far gone to come back to my senses
Now I’m on the edge of my bed making love to my meds
Every moments like a pistol to my head
When I’m getting mine

“Stomp”

(him)
It’s about flesh and blood
It’s about heart beat that beats strong
It’s about passion
That is unyielding
And I want you men to know today
It’s your hour
It is your time
It is your moment
Go get it

Verse 1 (Black Thought)

Yeah speaking of pieces of a man
Staring at a future in the creases of my hand
It reads like a final letter I’m leaving for my fam but
It’s written in language they will never understand
A late repentant
Never deviating from a plan
I drive by headed for the valley of the damned
The Wheels spin, I’m looking for a sacrificial lamb
Then roll tactics like a soldier out in the Sudan
Listen…
Was this a matter of flesh and blood
Yes it was
Does it matter who win and lose
Yes it does
It ain’t about the most blessed love
When you return to the essence
What is it back to the essence of
Greatness I wasnt in the prescence of
Cause you was fake and never measured up
You just a nigga on his regular
But how far am I ahead of ya
It just as easily coulda been me instead of ya

(Just Blaze)

We gone fight till we can’t fight no more
Right right
You cant fight no more
You gone lie down and bleed a while
You gone get up
Fight some more
Want you say it with me
Repeat it after me when I say it
We gone fight

Verse 2 (Greg Porn)

Fuck getting fuck
Immaculate conception
Now what’s beef ain’t even a question
Calico kisses, cold blood and crime tape
Flirt with death every night it’s a blind date
One night stand paybacks a bitch
Shit have you skinny dipping in a pool of your piss
Blood sweat and tears broken teeth and spit
Put the barrel in your mouth
Blow the devil a kiss
Put the knife in ya back cut down to the red meat
Daddy should’ve let me be a stain on the bed sheets
I’m one shot short of a Molotov cocktail
Kick in the door like welcome to my world
I’m an evil genius when it comes to this dumb shit
Half of the time ima keep it one hundred
Don’t play chicken when I’m driving them crazy
Get hit in the wing thigh breast or drumstick
We like

It seems that we’re on a kick with The Roots recently and let’s face it, until their new undun album hits the streets, it’s just going to be like this. And we have more info on the new album including artwork, a video release covering their photo shoot backed by the track Make My from the new album, AND more lyrics for two more songs (One Time and Kool On) to add to the first two they released.

We won’t bore you with specifics, but the album is set to drop on December 6th and we at Funkatopia are beside ourselves waiting for this to hit the streets.

Here’s the actual official album cover released today to the right.

Then we also have some more shots being released from the photo shoot including this one and then below that is the Youtube video of the photo shoot. The photo and video shoot were done in Manhattan right in the thick of New York City for all to see.  And luckily it was all documented for us to enjoy as well.  Enjoy!

“One Time”

Verse 1 (Phonte)

Yo, the spirit in the sky scream homicide
But it was time to ride
Then some niggas funny talking and too much money talking
We make em economize
Real rap – no tails spinning, such is the life of a
Kam-I-Ka-Ze pilot
We wylin out of control until we all make the funny papers like Comic-Con
Feared in all streets so, if you ever see me out in y’all streets
Find another one to occupy
I never hope for the best
I wish a nigga would
Turn around and walk away
I wish a nigga could
Listen to my instincts and say fuck the rest
But once you’ve had the best better ain’t as good
Weak-heartedness cannot be involved
Stick to the script nigga fuck your improv
Like the samurai
The street’s Hammurabi Code
Play your part shut the fuck up and do as I was told

Chorus#1

I was always late for the bus
Just once can I be on time
Then I start to think what’s the rush
Who wants to be on time
Feeling unlucky and if I ever got lucky it was one time
In this crazy world

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Not a thing I fear besides fear itself
This is clearly a lesson learned for someone else
Reach for the crown of thorns upon the shelf
Cross around my neck
I’ve been taught by stealth
Capture this moment in time… it’s a smash and grab
And where my party people y’all finna have a blast
You say goodbye… I say hello first and last
Hello-Hello… Now all of y’all elevate your glass
To an example of what time will do to you
When those nameless things just keep on eluding you
When shit is new to you and lies is true to you
Words of suspects-usual… coming though to you
Man, I guess if I was ever lucky it was one time
Then I went missing looking for the sublime
A nigga stayed low left the ladder unclimbed
Time after time, verse blank, the line unrhymed

Chorus #2

You ever wonder what’s the big fuss..
For everyone be on time
What’s the big deal, why do they feel
The need to have as marching on line
Feeling unlucky and if I’d ever got lucky it was one time
In this crazy world

Verse 3 (Dice Raw)

I wonder when you die do you hear harps and bagpipes
If you born on the other side of the crack pipe
Niggas learn math just to understand the crack price
Then drive in head first like the jack knife
Cause out here, yo you niggas can’t belly flop
If you wanna make the noise inside your belly stop
One time means being on the front line
Being on the front line means ducking one time
The pendulum swinging my way- couldn’t be more blind
Niggas talk to the cops? Not even one time
Cause we all going down just like the subprime
Or a cheap ass half gallon of Ballantine
But hopping over gates to escape is sublime
Then through the alley way and down to the sub line
Tales from the streets
A life of high crime
To make it to the bottom
Such a high climb

Chorus #1

“Kool On”

Ooh
Come get your kool on
Stars are made to shine (4xs)
Stars are made to shine

Verse 1 (Greg Porn)

I’m in the double G, three-piece tux
Screaming dressed to kill
Hope somebody call my bluff
It’s a full house… sipping on a royal flush
Two queens is on my cuffs
Good times is in the cards
Living on borrowed time
I’m paying the extra charge
To feel like something small is worth a hundred large
Swag is on retard, charm is on massage
Wit is on guard, I challenge you to a duel
Who needs a chain when every thoughts a jewel
God bless the weirdo when everyone’s a fool
Fuck a genie and three wishes
I just want a bottle, a place to write my novel
I am like heroin to those that hear a rhyme and think
How do you find this upper echelon this time
Let’s toast to better days a beautiful mind and a flow that never age

Chorus

Verse 2 (Black Thought)

Yo, I’m never sleeping like I’m on meth-amphtamines
Move like my enemy ten steps ahead of me
Say my reputation precedes me like a pedigree
Gentlemanly gangsta steez beyond the seventies
Holdin fast money without running out of patience
Move in silence without running up in places
Cake by the layers
Rich but never famous
Hustle anonymous still remain nameless
In hindsight gold come in bars like a klondike
The minute before the storm hit is what I’m calm like
Suited and booted for a shooting like it’s prom night
It’s suicide right pursuers tried like
To no avail and a heroes what they died like
I’ve got em waiting on the news like I’m Cronkite
Not in the lime light or needed for the crime right
No boasts, just bodied, chalked close to the line tight

Chorus

Verse 3 (Truck North)

Yeah outside where the killers and the dealers swarm
And inside they dressed up like it’s a telethon
Black tie affair but they holding heavy arms
Straight cash with a stash in the cummerbund
More Bacardi and the bouncers of the party hum
Riots erupting around and still we party on
Made the quantum leap to a king from a pawn
But it was destined the conclusion was foregone
Serenade of the former slave promenade
Cause them long days in the sun
Have now become shade
So we doing high speeds in a narrow lane
Say cheese
Free falling from the aeroplane
Another feather in the cap for all the years
That we spent in luxuries lap
Without looking back
Cause memories could sting like hornet
Damn it felt good to see people up on it

According to a press release just released today, The Roots are releasing their next album on December 6th a mere month and a half from now entitled undun. The album is a 10 track concept album about the life of “one Redford Stephens” (1974-1999).

This will be an interesting work and a welcome surprise for fans of The Roots although many questions still aren’t unveiled about the album such as who assumed the role of bassist on the project. Since the departure of Owen Biddle, bassist Mark Kelley has taken his place.

However, the new album undun makes no mention of who’s on bass and listing the band as “Black Thought (MC), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (drums), Kamal Gray (electronic keyboards), F. Knuckles (percussion), Captain Kirk Douglas (electronic guitar), Damon Bryson (sousaphone) and James Poyser (electronic keyboard)”.  No bass.

But the focus here is a NEW ALBUM!!  The concept album tells the story of Redford in reverse from his death to birth or as they’ve put it explores “the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out on the corner”.  Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson goes into more detail indicating;

“At this point in our career we’d like for our work to have a unifying theme, and an experiential quality. We’ve been intentionally making our albums shorter in length so that they can be experienced as a continuous work. The music is band-oriented with an eye on the moody cinematic. As a DJ, I am the King of playlists, but I don’t want our albums to feel like a playlist or a mixtape for that matter. We want to tell stories that work within the album format and we want the stories to be nuanced and useful to people. Undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner like Tupac’s character Bishop in Juice… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?”

There’s also a sneak peek of the first single Make My featuring Big K.R.I.T. was made available at SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/okayplayer/the-roots-make-my-featuring. So for now, it’s time to look forward to new music from The Roots and figure out the details later!

The Roots “Make My” featuring Big K.R.I.T. by okayplayer

Track Listing;

1. Sleep
2. Make My
3. One Time
4. Kool On
5. The Jump
6. Stomp
7. Lighthouse
8. I Remember
9. Tip The Scale
10. Redford