Ah man. Those early Roots albums were completely formative for me and at the time, and getting into a whole load of rap and other music too. At the time, I wasn’t so hyped on Phrenology and Things Fall Apart (silly now, as they’re both v good records), and I was convinced it wasn’t The Roots without Malik B. He was never the rapper Black Thought is, but he dropped great verses and added variety and a different perspective to their tracks. Was so hyped when he returned on Game Theory, and was all over his features, still my favourite tracks on the record, which probably ended up being my favourite album of theirs. At least a part of me thinks there’ll never be another proper Roots album without him. What you leave is in the music buddy.
