Who are they? Well The Roots are a musical collective fronted by Questlove and Black Thought. Questlove is a genius drummer and Black Thought a pretty darn genius emcee. Over the years they've had comings and goings to their current 8 man roster, with most instruments covered.  You've probably heard them on the Jimmy Fallon show - they're the live band which is a pretty awesome job which has seen them hold down some stable work while being able to do their creative thing.

Everyone perceives things differently, for me 'And then you shoot your cousin' combines a knowledgeable breakdown of society with musical perfection that you would come to expect from a veteran group. It feels pretty dumb to say this, but The Roots struggle to fit in to any musical category though they are as much hip hop as anything. If you've never listened to any of The Roots before, you may miss the synths and simple drum patterns that have overcrowded today's hip hop. Whether you just want bars and beats, or whether you just don't listen to hip hop, 'And then you shoot your cousin' still provides a great listen. 

'Dies Irae' sounds more avant garde musical mischief than anything. With no bars or singing it is a minute of noise that not only showcases their ability to produce bits of awesomeness, but smoothly fits in to the slightly depressing theme of the album. You could draw all sorts of metaphors between this song and society, but who knows what the idea is - you'll have to check with them.

'The Coming' is another song without any bars, but Mercedes Martinez graces the track with her lovely voice to accompany a musical composition that is more symphony orchestra than anything. Starting off slowly with mostly keys, Martinez's voice perfectly rides the music before the tempo increases creating the drama that sometimes only music can. 'The Unravelling' is very similar except this time it's Raheem DeVaughan who sings "A man with no future" - they make being hopeless sound so awesome.

To say that this album has everything would be wrong. It's bleak, it's real and there's no false happiness or hope that we see in so much of today's music. In fact there's not really any happiness but besides that there's everything you could want. Even on 'When the people cheer' Black Thought's verse is a pretty dour combination of lust and realism concluded with 

"I make her laugh
She makes it clap
And then she gives me lap dances and I’m thankful that
She keeps providing the place for me to be unfaithful at"

The most upbeat song, the most likely to provide you with something to wiggle your body along to is 'Understand'. It's a tune full of contradictions. I love it because both Black Thought and collaborator Greg Porn demonstrate the acquired taste of lyricism and realism. And all their songs are the bare minimum, there's no wasted lines, no wasted thoughts and everything is given to you succinctly. This is also evident on 'Black Rock' where Dice Raw and Black Thought only drop a few bars which perfectly sets the scene and blows your mind.

You might find it a difficult listen if you've never really enjoyed The Roots before, but if you're in the mood to not only be self reflective but also reflective on society as a whole, 'And Then You Shoot Your Cousin' will give you what you need. It's more than fitting that the last song is 'Tomorrow', probably my favourite as it offers some conclusion and ways to solve the problems identified throughout the album.