The Roots are probably hands down the Greatest Rap Group of All Time. They are definitely the greatest Hip-Hop Band ever. Some would say that’s by default but, in my mind 5 bands could come out this year and drop what people would deem “classics” and I would STILL take The Roots NO! QUESTION!

I turned the corner on The Roots because of THIS SPECIFIC ALBUM. I didn’t purchase “Do You Want More?” I didn’t even like the song Proceed. I did buy Illadelph Halflife but really for only three songs. Overall, it was just ok to me but, Things Fall Apart…..TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY!

This album is AMAZING! This is the album that makes The Roots a household name. This is the album that gets Black Thought in a hip-hop heads top 10 conversation. Malik and Dice Raw do their thing too and of course Questlove is just a monster! Eve, Beans, Mos Def  and Badu all lend great features as well!

This is one of the few albums that people will call CLASSIC and I really won’t debate it because I like it so much. True, nobody benefitted more than the group itself, It didn’t inspire more Rap Bands but it did bring a different feel for hip-hop music at the time. From the Volkswagon commercial to Jay-Z wanting them for unplugged, it all starts, where Things Fall Apart.

Happy 15th Anniversary to Things Fall Apart. Released February 23, 1999