The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com Tuesday, December 6, 2011- 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - 7 Cracking into classical "We're waiting for Jimmy. He's always late." Deep, soulful Roots Hip-hop band hardly 'undun' on newest release By ANDREW ECKHOUS Daily Arts Writer The Roots have inspired intrigue among the hip-hop and neo-soul congregations for more than two decades through their masterful use The Roots of live music - something undun nearly extinct Def Jam in rap - and the gritty, realistic scenes they've come to be known for. On their latest album, undun, these qualities are on display for all to see, channeling the sorrow and fight for survival that can only be found in the U.S.'s under- belly. Telling the fictional story of Redford Stephens, a repentant drug dealer trapped in the hustle, undun is a concept album evoca- tive enough to transport any lis- tener, whether from Compton or Ann Arbor, into the hard-nosed life of an inner-city pusher. The Philadelphia-bred Roots are the brainchild of Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter. Though there has been a revolving door of members, the two founders embody the bold creativity and incisive commentary The Roots are famous for. Never a group to fall into tired rap "gangsters and Glocks" tropes, they have made a profitable and prolific career without having to cater to the lowest common denominator. Rather, The Roots hang their hats on intelligent songs that chron- icle the all-too-real struggle occurring everyday in inner cit- ies across the U.S. and the world. What makes the already-phe- nomenal undun even more admi- rable is the timeframe in which The Roots created it. Over the past two years, their visibility has increased exponentially by play- ing weekly shows in New York City, being Jimmy Fallon's house band and using their late night platform to imply that Michele Bachmann is a "lyin' ass bitch." But instead of taking the easy way out and cashing in on their surging exposure, they remained true to their roots (pun definitely intended) and crafted a delicate portrait of a desperate man on the fringes of society. What often gets lost when discussing inner-city crime is that criminals are not simply statistics, but living, breathing humans, and that's precisely the message.the Roots somberly convey in every track. Trac- ing the life of the ill-fated Ste- phens's drug pedaling career, undun is unorthodox in that it travels backward. The opening instrumental track, "Dun," acts as Stephens's death rattle and is followed by "Sleep," a dying mes- sage replete with haunting, music box-esque instrumentals and regretful lyrics. The meat of the album is com- prised of expansive, foreboding gems that flow into each other seamlessly, though the entire timeline is backward. On "Make My," Stephens sees the follies of his ways, admitting, "they told me the ends / won't justify the means" over a funky, bass-driven beat. He's the perfect example of an antihero, at least in his own eyes, as it seems he had no choice but to plunder, pillage and kill on the streets. Though the life of Redford Stephens follows the familiar murder-by-numbers outline that anyone who has ever watched "Boyz 'N the Hood" knows by heart, The Roots are able to puta human face on what is usually nameless. Curiously, the most fasci- nating tracks on undun are the last four, which are all instru- mentals. Each one represents a different aspect of Stephens's pre-crime years, and with names like "Possibility" and "Finality," the vagueness inspires reflection and helps to humanize the out- law world of drug dealing. There is no glorification of violence or vice here, just a reminder that at one point, even the most ruthless criminal had a soul. . Redford Stephens's sorrow is palpable and capable of mak- ing listeners pray for the fic- tional man's soul. Undoubtedly, he made a host of bad choices and his self-aware ruminations about people he hurt may be nothing more than a save-my- soul deathbed conversion, but it's hard not to feel for the guy. Even more striking though, is that The Roots are able to evoke such emo- tion for a character whose life is contained within a 40-minute album. That is what makes undun a transcendent rap album. It's that time of year again when I start chewing my nails and stop caring about what I look like when I leave my room. For me, the gap between Thanksgiving break and our winter siesta is undoubt- edly the worst three weeks LAUREN of the entire CASERTA year, and Fall 2011 has cer- tainly delivered. It's one of those days that has been scheduled down to the hour. AsI curl myself into the fetal position while perched on my computer chair, I realize my overworked brain needs a little time to sit back and lose itself before beginning the grind all over again. I've been told that Christmas is sometime in the near future, so only the Kirov Orchestra's rendition of Tchai- kovsky's "The Nutcracker" will do. But heck, who am Ikidding? Classical music is a subject I've always tried to avoid bring- ing up in my columns since people tend to have entrenched opinions regarding this often- ridiculed art form. You either already listen to it or avoid it like the plague. I understand. Classical music gets a terrible rap nowadays, and hearing about classical music before you actually geta chance to hear it ends up sabotaging the process that allows a person to truly appreciate the work of a good composer. And don't get me wrong - some classical music is downright boring for the aver- age on-the-go student, and I wouldn't expect much of a work- out were you to powerwalk to the dulcet tones of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Slower sym- phonies were simply not built for the aver who wa of their: jam-pac long pac repetiti But a cal mus worth t if you're a while, weeks o lenge yo a listen. I alw people I "The Ni may not know. S Flowers Reed Pi melodie has ever ment st: advertis ( eye dov Whil their w these ha part ofc memory dejh vuj who ma tion bet know sa the icon And compos "The Ni everyth you're w swept a the mus Music li mentall to perm 'age antsy pop listener, all of my homework playlists - nts the entire duration Maroon 5 can blare through my musical experience to be headphones through all 12 pages ked into a three-minute of my latest essay, but a battle cket of dance-tastic, between the Nutcracker and the ve sound. Mouse King demands that I sit dding a bit of classi- back in my chair, close my eyes ic to your collection is and enjoy. he extra megabytes, and One of my most embarrassing looking to escape for memories as a young and awk- during these last few ward classical music aficionado f brain pain, then I chal- occurred when I listened to u to give this soundtrack my beat-up copy of "The Nut- cracker" on my clunky Walk- ays enjoy watching man asI took the middle school isten to the music of bus home. I would hide in the utcracker," a ballet they very back seats, closing my eyes know they already and swaying as the crescendos ongs like "Waltz of the of the "Pas de deux: Intrada" " and "Dance of the swelled to a rich and thunder- pes" are staple classical ous roar. Iwill never forget the s familiar to anyone who moment when the bus driver r ventured into a depart- found me oblivious in my seat ore or endured television after noticing she had an extra ements. passenger when returning to the bus garage. While my experience may ls have been humiliating, it high- eyour lights a crucial characteristic of 's and dance classical music: It can only be fully enjoyed when a passive lis- vn the aisles tener agrees to become an active participant in the experience. of Sears. The more effort you put into lis- tening, the more fully developed the story becomes, as it's woven bar by bar. e people may not know This story within a song sets orking names, songs like the classical genre apart from ave become a permanent music today. Without words to our unconscious musical convey ambiguous emotions and y, leading to inevitable actions, music has to shape a moments for listeners tale that develops much like the ike the sudden connec- plot of a movie. And just likea ween the music they movie, you can't tune in for a few swell and its place within minutes only to become frus- ic "The Nutcracker." trated when events don't play out as with all truly great within the span of a few minutes. itions, Tchaikovsky's Classical music is an investment utcracker" is a drop- of time and imagination, one ing-and-listen affair. If that rewards commitment with Killing to let yourself be a truly one-of-a-kind journey way for the story, then across the auditory imagination. ic will happily oblige. ike this paintssuch vivid pictures for me that I had anently remove it from ;Caserta is.gstcgasugarplum daydream. To wake her, e-mail caserta@umich.edu. Generations of explicit hip hop 'Lioness' legend lives on By EDITH FREYER Daily Arts Writer This past July, lovers of poi- gnant heart-and-soul blues received the devastating news that their beloved pop *** heroine, Amy Winehouse, Amy died from Winehouse acciden- tal alcohol Lioness: Hidden poisoning, Treasures permanent- ly leaving Island iTuneslibrar- . ies and ears void of new music from the troubled songstress. Fast forward barely five months, and Winehouse's foun- dation has released a posthu- mous album in her honor. Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, Winehouse's longtime pro- ducers, along with her family, combed through hours of cut- ting room floor audio and hand- picked unreleased recordings and alternate versions of her popular tunes, culminating in Lioness: Hidden Treasures. The album fully spans her career, with tracks ranging from 2002 to 2011. But while Lioness will satisfy anyone's Winehouse craving, it doesn't provide any groundbreaking material. On "Our Day Will Come," a cover of the 1963 original by Ruby and the Romantics and the album's opener, listeners are immediately greeted with the familiar brass-grazed groove that has become Winehouse's signature. It's an uplifting start, as she confidently croons, "No one can tell me / that I'm too young to know / I love you so." "Tears Dry," the original ver- sion of one of Winehouse's big- gest hits, "Tears Dry On Their own," finds the familiar song in a decidedly darker, more AMY insightful direction. It takes her DUNs to the more deeply sweeping, I A&JREs less bouncy side of Motown, and it's a welcome change. An alternate recording of Mark Ronson's "Valerie" arrang percus but it vocals wise a In this sounds wande inevita metapf Win throug chords riffs a: with gems, was pe and the the oth "Boc release nett's, and s voice s in com tier-re ement lacks the punchy, difficult to listen to because her sive drive of his version, decay is clearly audible. spotlights Winehouse's In some sense, the closing ability to make an other- track, "A Song For You," really verage song worthwhile. does sound like an ultimate s track, her voice almost finale. Of course, most listen- gorgeously adrift as it ers will layer this album with rs up and down the scales, an extra dose of sorrow, the bly evoking a predictable bones of which are undoubtedly hor for the singer's life. already in the music. Certainly, that was a pointed decision on the part of Ronson and Remi. [rul AIt's only human to listen to the J'songs with the added emotion of .ck by track. Winehouse's tragic death. Ronson and Remi are unmatched in their ability to perfect the contrast between ehouse drawls her way squeaky clean instrumentation h "Halftime," soaking the and Winehouse's smoky brogue with her pathos-inducing - really, with almost any other nd slides. This one, along production style (and less skill), another of the album's her performances would sound "Best Friends, Right?," sloppy. They should be applauded nned solely by Winehouse for their body of collaborations, e two are more subtle than and the success of their relation- ers. ship with Winehouse is wholly dy & Soul," a recently apparent on this collection. d track from Tony Ben- Lioness: Hidden Treasures is Duets II, is sentimental an album that might leave hearts weet, but Winehouse's more aching than ever. But on ounds drastically inferior the other hand, it's just enough parison to the other, ear- to fill the beehive-shaped hole in corded tracks. It's almost fans' hearts. By CHLOE STACHIOWAK Daily Arts Writer It's the beginning of theholiday season yet again, and withit comes the slew of magical moments we look forward to every year: Car- bo-loading with sweet potatoes, casseroles and assorted flavors of pie. All day marathons of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" and other Bravo reality favorites. Never-ending hunts for the one burned-outbulb keepinganentire strand of Christmas lights from glowing. Oh, and getting flak from fami- ly members when you're home for winter break - especially about your taste in music. At least, that's what happens at my house. Every time I play hip hop in front of my older rela- tives - be it when I'm washing Thanksgiving dishes or cleaning the house for a Christmas party - theyuse it as an opportunity for criticism, commenting on what "kids listen to these days" and the collapse of our culture's values. It becomes a war between gen- erations, and I struggle to defend young people everywhere. After years of enduring these battles, I've heard it all: Every rapper is sexist. The only thing rappers care about is "getting hoes" and money. Hip hop in general is more shallow and offensive than it ever was in the past. It's usually a hopeless fight. After all, it takes a lot of courage to tell someone as lovable (and as good at cooking) as my mom that she's wrong. Still, not even the loudest Waka Flocka Flame song can quiet the argument brew- ing in my head: Today's hip hop doesn't suck any more than it did when my parents were kids. Let's face it - listening to rap in the company of family members is rarely a positive experience. Adults just have an uncanny abil- ity to drain this genre of its joy, as they make it less about articula- tion and rhythm and more about the moral implications of Ludac- ris's sex life. What parents over- look, however, is how graphic their music was, even when they remember itbeing harmless. Take, for instance, Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." Sure, the late '70s gem is dressed up with a barrage of "boogies" and exclamatory "oh yeah!"s, but it still contains the controver- sial themes found in today's rap music. ' The song thoroughly covers the importance of hotel parties, strategies for picking up women and why the gang is better than every other rapper out there - for 14 entire min- utes. Some of the lines are just as shocking as your average Lil Wayne single, as they boast about having "super sperm" and sleep- ing with their ladies' friends as soon as they start "actin' up." Arrogant? Check. Sexist?You bet. But the obscenities don't stop there - they just keep rolling through the decades. Your mind doesn't have to be wedged in a gutter to pick up on the sexual tones in the 1986 song "Push It," as Salt-N-Pepa supplies listeners with enough breathy vocals and "Ooh baby"s to nourish a late- night Pay-Per-View purchase. LL Cool J's "Big Ole Butt" is even crasser - yes, the lyrics are as literal as the title suggests. And when was the last time you lis- tened to N.W.A. without hearing some sort of reference to domestic or gang violence? Even the rapper-turned-rever- end Joseph Simmons's lyrics are ROLLING STONE N.W.A. went 'Straight Outta Compton' and straight into the suburbs. far from pious: Run-DMC songs like "Dumb Girl" quake with the same sexual and misogynistic undertones found in today's Top 40. The premise of the song is simple, as the rappers viciously condemn a girl for being too easy. They call her a "stupid sex fiend with no willpower" and criticize her active nightlife - word on the street is that she's "always sniffin' or givin' somebody ablow." 'Parents Just Don't Understand.' Sorry, Mom and Dad, but your music just isn't appropriate to play at the dinner table. Don't be fooled by this super- ficial boldness, though. I'd never actually use this as ammo in argu- ments with my parents, especially with the month of presents and free laundry service drawing near. I've accepted the awkward friction between our music as something young people have endured since the beginning of time - or more specifically, since Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" first played in our family's car on the way to the Christmas tree lot 10 years ago. Now that's a holiday memory worth forgetting.