mixtape maestro (2.0)

Not only one of the greatest hip hop albums in recent years, but one of the better soul discs as well (one could easily perch it alongside the socially conscious-leaning R&B classics of Wonder, Gaye and Mayfield), The Roots‘ ninth studio effort How I Got Over hits mind-melting brilliance in it’s every realism-dipped lyric, warm soul-baked groove and nod-worthy chorus, demanding anyone who, even for a split-second, flirted with the notion that being a late-night TV house band and schmoozing with Hollywood’s finest on a daily basis would somehow dilute the band’s work to slap themselves across the face as hard as possible for not knowing how The Roots roll.

And while Over‘s opening half, a consistently compelling five-cut streak of Recession Era-backed sunless introspection undoubtedly lands as the strongest portion of the album, it’s “Right On”, a cut housed in the disc’s more hope-filled latter half that has earned the most revisits from this corner of the Web.

Here, The Roots muscle up an interpolation of indie folk goddess Joanna Newsom‘s quirky “The Book of Right-On” (from her 2004 debut, The Milk-Eyed Mender), crafting an oh-so-smoove summery bob that edges weightlessness despite a heavy boom-bap drum foundation. Meanwhile, inspired by Newsom’s looped chipmunk squeaks to “shine a light on”, Black Thought oozes self-confidence, promising to “raise the bar though like Bridgette”.

A future Roots classic in our opinion.

“Right On”:

BONUS DL: Joanna Newsom “The Book of Right-On” (alt)

This past weekend, understandably, saw countless MJ tribute/ covers emerging all across the Web as various artists, producers and DJ’s scrambled to their respective studios, anxious to pay some sort of musical homage to their idol. And while we promise that this site won’t be housing too many of them, we couldn’t pass up on sharing one of the best of the bunch: The Roots and Erykah Badu’s dazzling rendition of Mike’s 1972 solo hit, “I Wanna Be Where You Are”.

Erykah has pulled off great remakes in the past (highlights from her stellar ’97 Live album included amazing takes on Mary Jane Girls’ “All Night Long”, Heatwave’s “Boogie Nights” and Chaka Khan’s “Stay”), and this gem, recorded prior to her guest appearance on last Friday’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, is no different, raising your spirits to a blissful crest with it’s hypnotizing merging of her expert vocal performance and The Roots’ jazzy support groove.

DL: “I Wanna Be Where You Are” (Michael Jackson Cover)” (alt)

When it comes to Outkast, we’ve learned to expect the unexpected, especially when it comes down to their odd (and very frustrating) refusal to not just go ahead and give the fans what they want by recording a joint album (that’s non-soundtrack-related, thank you). So with that said, it’s not too surprising that Big Boi’s latest protogee would be the hip hop/ alternative band Vonnegutt, a Gym Class Heroes-esque act from Atlanta who have been slowly making noise within the blogosphere over the past year.

The band should really grab major on-line interest with this most recent creation though, a full-on cover of the Roots/ Cody ChesnuTT (whatever happened to him?) jam “The Seed 2.0″ that they’ve engulfed in a curioso electro-hop sound. Now nothing will be able to top the utter brilliance of the original (or, for that matter, the solo Cody record that inspired it), but Vonnegutt manage to pull off an interesting take nonetheless.

Look out for Big Boi to be featured on their next official single, “Here We Go Again”, followed by The Appetizer EP which is set to drop this Fall.

(Shouts to OnSmash)

DL: “The Seed 2.0 (The Roots Cover)” (alt)