Review Summary: shout out to my boy Jimmy Fallon
What makes
Illadelph Halflife so endlessly compelling is how many different identities it embodies simultaneously. All at once, the album is a behemoth, a statement, an evolution, and a crossroads. If one conceptualizes the group’s moniker literally,
Illadelph represents the moment in which The Roots emerged from the soil to permanently leave their imprint upon the rap scene, to
become the moment. “Respond/React” is as thematically explicit about this desire as you can get, punctuated by Black Thought and Malik B trading rhythmically nested bars over Questlove’s production, his sonic fingerprints adding a sleek polish heretofore absent in the group’s output. Imagery of expanding territory and a militant push to the top of the game display a hunger that propels the record’s momentum forward and becomes its mission statement.
Do You Want More??!?, while compelling and effortlessly palatable in its demonstration of jazz rap, felt one-note at times and featured several stretches of stagnancy throughout its tracklist.
Illadelph has no such issues despite a gargantuan 78-minute runtime, and this can be attributed to The Roots’ insatiable drive to prove themselves. Every beat is packed wall to wall with sonic nuggets and melodic flourishes, and at times the group even outdoes the ethos of their previous record, like on D’Angelo collab “The Hypnotic”, the downtempo “Episodes”, or the spellbinding instrumental “No Shine”. This painstaking approach to songcraft is why even a minute-long excursion like “Panic!!!!”, a song that would surely be an afterthought on a lesser record, instantly pulls the listener in with its sleek instrumental and Thought’s evocative narrative. Despite the rapid fire presentation of the tracklist and the vibe occasionally changing on a dime, Thought and the late Malik B are more than up to the task. In the one year since
Do You Want More??!?, both of them leveled up their game, but it’s Thought in particular who really shines, delivering some of the most jaw-dropping verses of his career on tracks like “Concerto of the Desperado” and the already legendary “No Alibi”.
Around the time
Illadelph Halflife was taking shape in the studio, drummer Questlove was settling into a different role in D’angelo’s
Voodoo sessions as a percussionist/producer hybrid, soaking in information like a sponge and forming bonds that would lead to the formation of the loosely defined Soulquarians posse. While these relationships would have much more overt and obvious influence on the Roots’ follow-up
Things Fall Apart, their effect on the band’s output can be seen much earlier, and nowhere is it more obvious than on
Illadelph’s crown jewel, the unbelievable “What They Do”. Featuring an addictive hook from Raphael Saddiq, three top tier verses from Thought, and a Questlove beat that veers firmly into neo-soul territory, no track here hits the bulls-eye (or forecasts the group’s future endeavors) quite like this one, and it understandably remains a fan favorite to this day.
At 20 tracks and 78 minutes, it’s basically inevitable that
Illadelph Halflife overstays its welcome and features some fat that absolutely could have been trimmed. However, there’s far less of it than you’d expect; the only truly forgettable cuts here are the bookend interludes and the “Token DJ Cut” that only serves to break up album flow. Every other song here is at least good enough to leave an impression on the listener with a clever bar, catchy hook, or ear-catching instrumental. The Roots entered the studio aiming to do just that; leave an impression that would fully cement them in the minds of hip hop listeners everywhere. On that front,
Illadelph Halflife is an unquestionable success, and it remains an enduring entry into the hip-hop canon 26 years after the fact.
