“Make My” -  The Roots ft. Big K.R.I.T.

This is a very short peek at The Root’s latest addition to their incredible body of work. The next, a concept album titled Undun, is the story of a man named Redford Stephens, who we can assume is the man seen in this video. Questlove has spoken about how this is a deeply personal retelling of Stephens’ life and it will be told in reverse from his own perspective. It’s essentially a retrospective of this man’s life after it has already ended. Hence, why our first introduction to this character is his dying moment.

I’m curious to see how the final product will turn out. The concept album is not usually something we see come out of the hip-hop world. Hip-hop/rap albums don’t tend to rely on the idea of cohesion and are generally a collection of disjointed songs (although there are many, many exceptions). Concept albums rely on carrying out a narrative—or more than one—throughout the entire album. It’s literally a story told through the medium of song. It’s about unifying themes, developing characters and working around a plot. I have the utmost respect for The Roots for never choosing to settle. This is a group that has been around for over two decades, yet they are always taking steps to evolve their sound and technique even when no one expects them to.