Game Theory by The Roots

I said wait
Cause here I come
Here I come
Here I come
You boys get ready
Cause here I come
Here I come
Here I come

I couldn't resist quoting one of the songs from this CD even though I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with what I am thinking of. I ran into this song and another one in my iTunes randomly and I thought, "Who is this? Why do I have this song?" After looking through the CD collection I found it, Game Theory by the Roots. The name sounded familiar and a friend reminded me that they are the house band for Jimmy Fallon. Things were starting to come together as to who they were but I still couldn't figure out why I owned this CD. I took a listen and got more of an idea.
The Roots are a hip hop band. Game Theory is pretty much all hip hop but there are some other influences in there, you can hear jazz, disco, hard rock, just to name a few. The song "Here I Come" has a guitar riff in it that sounds more like it came from a speed metal band than a hip hop one. Then there are other songs that have more jazzy and mellow beats. They also are obviously influenced by some of the masters in their own genre as I was listening to a Public Enemy song and realized that the Roots had taken a line from their song, "Don't Believe the Hype," and used it as the central theme for one of their own songs, "False Media." From information I read when looking up stuff about the Roots this CD was a little more political than some of their other CDs. It has references to 9/11, Columbine, Iraq, and also the violence in the streets.
My favorite songs are "Here I Come," the song I quoted above. I like it because it has a fast, pounding beat and has some cool sounding guitars in it plus I like the words from it. My other favorite song is "Long Time." This song kind of reminds me of a song from the disco era as the music is totally 70s while Peedi Peedi is rapping and then the chorus is sung with a bunch of "whoo-hoos" from the back-up singers. Definitely disco.
I am not keeping this CD. I can think of other people who will listen to it and enjoy it more than I ever will but I did like it and was glad to have been exposed to it. I have no idea why Ross would buy this CD but I find it an odd coincidence that he also bought a Public Enemy CD. Just not what I would ever think is his kind of music but he always surprised me by never letting himself get pigeonholed into liking or buying just one kind of music. I suppose that is one of the things that I always loved about him. He never made a judgment about anything, musically or otherwise, without giving it a chance.

Here I Come - The Roots