To kick of my first blog post I will write about what probably is my biggest musical obsession to date: undun by The Roots.
undun is the 10th studio album by the American hip hop band The Roots. undun is an existential concept album about the fictional character Redford Stevens. His story is reverse-chronological narrated throughout the album while the major underlying theme revolves around the idea of a person’s life choices being determined by their surroundings. In the case of Redford Stevens this is the ghetto. The Roots describes the albums as follows
undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but wasn’t born criminal. he’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?
The story of Redford Stevens begins with his death (remember the reverse-chronology) and from there it explores the circumstances and decisions he made that led to his early demise.
1. Dun
The first track of the album, is merely the sound of a flatlined heart monitor which sets the tone of the story.
2. Sleep
This song is when Redford is lying on his deathbed. This song works as a superb introduction to the album. The song is dominated by quiet drums and the beat is slow paced. This could symbolize the limited time that Redford has left in his life. Black Thought (Vocals) then delivers a fantastic verse focusing on what Redford is thinking about on his deathbed, which circles around his fears about how he will be remembered by his family.
3. Make My Feat. Big K.R.I.T & Dice Raw
Big K.R.I.T comes in with the first verse on the track. He delivers an outstanding verse with a great flow and lyricism describing Redford turning to drugs. “Well, in the world of night terrors it’s, Hard to dream, they hollerin’ cash rules everything, Just call it cream, cause when it rises to the top, You get the finer things.” This really paints a vivid picture of what was going on in Redfords life..
4. One Time Feat. Phone & Dice Raw
This songs really shows how Redford is fed up with the standard 9-5 jobs and he can not picture himself ever being in that situation where he has to work at the same time, every day, for the rest of his life. The drums and piano are the dominant instruments in this beat and really add to the emotion of the song. This is probably the song that connected with me on a personal level more than any song I have heard in a long time. The hook gets me every time!
5. Kool On Feat. Greg Porn & Truck North
This is probably my favorite song on this album. This song shows Redford at the peak of his life when he has loads of money and is going out gambling wearing a tux. Porn sums Redford’s gambling life well “Good times is in the cards.” This shows that Redford is enjoying his lifestyle. The chorus is also very uplifting “Come get your Kool On, stars are made to shine.” This song never fails to put a smile on my face and always puts me in a good mood.
6. The Otherside Feat. Bilal Oliver & Truck North
The drums start off aggressive and the piano comes in with a high pitch sound which makes this song more emotional. This song shows that Redford is at the point of his life where he is starting to give up. He doesn’t see the point in life and does not know what he has done to deserve this lifestyle.
7. Stomp Feat. Greg Porn
The song uses samples from the warmup speech of Georgia Tech Pastor Derrick Moore to set the scene. Redford falls deeper into his criminal life and even commits murder. Redford’s just about had it with his situation. He’s tired of living and barely surviving, so he’s about to do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if his family won’t understand his decisions
8. Lighthouse Feat. Dice Raw
The beat on this song is very emotional and really fits the theme of “Suicide” in this song. Redford is feeling alone and at this point in his life he is contemplating suicide. The piano slightly echoes in this song which really adds to the beat.
9. I Remember
One of the best songs on the album, this brooding walk down memory lane finds Redford reminiscing on past friendships, old stomping grounds, and (maybe) his complicity in a friend’s murder. Redford, looking back on his life and realizing the cost of the choices he’s made.
10. Tip The Scale Feat. Dice Raw
In this song, the beat is very slow and the drum beat is very basic but very hard hitting and powerful as some of the other instrumentals on this album. Black Thought and Dice Raw describe Redford wanting to turn the odds of survival in his favour while avoiding to live this criminal lifestyle. However, we all know that this is not possible hence his death at the beginning of the album.
11. Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)
12. Possibility (2nd movement)
13. Will To Power (3rd movement)
14. Finality (4th movement)
The last four tracks on the album are instrumentals. I believe that these represent the very beginning of Redford’s life where he is just a baby (hence the fact that there are no vocals on this album).These instrumentals take you on a rollercoaster because it can go from very gentle and calm to absolute havoc and concludes (or starts?) the story in a great way.
As if this project wasn’t already artistically astonishing by itself, The Roots made a short film about Redford Stevens narrated by songs from the album. Enjoy
I hope you all enjoyed the read and if you haven’t listened to undun yet, do yourself a favor and give it a couple of spins and experience it for yourself.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
J
Album links:
Delirious Obsessions 