''Illadelph Halflife'' is the third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American
hip hop band
the Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...
, released September 24, 1996 on
DGC and
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
. It features a tougher and broader sound than their previous album, ''
Do You Want More?!!!??!
''Do You Want More?!!!??!'' is the second studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released January 17, 1995 on DGC Records. The band's major label-debut, it was released two years after their independent debut album, '' Organix'' (1993 ...
'' (1995).
The album also contains integration of programmed drums and guest contributions by
R&B musicians such as
Amel Larrieux
Amel Eliza Larrieux (née Stowell; born March 8, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist. Larrieux rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a founding member of the duo Groove Theory along with Bryce Wilson. After leaving the group in 199 ...
and
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...
, as well as
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
musicians such as
David Murray,
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman (born September 20, 1956) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader and music theorist. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
Early life
Steve Coleman was born and grew up in South Side, Chicago. He started playing al ...
,
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...
,
Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes (born September 16, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer. The son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham is known for his work in nu jazz, fusing jazz with elements of hip hop and electronic mus ...
.
In 1998, the album was selected as one of ''
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
''s 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2006, the album was selected as one of ''
Hip Hop Connection
''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".
History
Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the magazine p ...
''s 100 Best Rap Albums from 1995 to 2005. The master tapes for the album were destroyed in
a fire at the Universal Studios back lot in 2008.
Reception
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' writer
Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. He is best known for his book '' The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', in which he describes his ...
called the album "one of the year's best rap offerings" and wrote that "The Roots move indiscriminately from politically conscious lyrics (not just about black America but also about Bosnia, the Olympics and terrorism) to silly rhymes ('roam like a cellular phone/far from home')".
''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' wrote that "while it doesn't sacrifice a smidgen of street-level intensity, it reaffirms just how far-reaching (and how far removed from the gangsta stereotype) hip-hop can be".
Tracii McGregor of ''
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
'' magazine called it "a thoughtful musical endeavor ... an emotional and spiritually fulfilling aural experience".
''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' critic
Selwyn Seyfu Hinds described it as "an artistic progression, and added confirmation of the Roots' place at hip-hop's vanguard".
''
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
''s Jeff Niesel stated "the Roots find the perfect mixture of jazz and hip-hop for their songs about the hardships of urban life".
''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
''s
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
gave the album a (neither) rating,
which indicates a record that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't." However, ''Illadelph Halflife'' was ranked number 33 on ''The Village Voice''s
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll of 1996. A 2004 retrospective review by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' perceived it as an improvement over the Roots's previous work, stating "The messages grew more focused on 1996's ''Illadelph Halflife'', which includes several strident anti-gangsta tirades and taunts.
Black Thought
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...
replaced the bellicose, confrontational bravado of so many rappers with discussions of fidelity and responsibility".
Track listing
Continuation from ''Do You Want More???''
*The track listing on some album releases denotes the first track as track #34, combining the track totals from Organix (17 tracks) and Do You Want More?!!!??! (16 tracks), making 33 total tracks. The rest of the tracks continue upward from 34 to the Outro (being track #53)
Usage of songs
The intro of the song named "Section" is sampled by
Jeremy Harding
Jeremy Harding (born 1952) is a British writer and journalist, based in the south of France.
Life and work
Harding was born in London, where he was placed for adoption at 11 days old by his Irish mother. He grew up in West London. He tells the st ...
for his "Playground
riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm". In the context of reggae and dancehall, it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the ...
", which was later used as the instrumental for
Beenie Man
Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay.
Biography
Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...
's 1997 single "
Who Am I (Sim Simma)".
Charts
Credits
* Producer(s):
The Grand Negaz,
Questlove
Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...
,
Black Thought
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...
, Kelo,
Q-Tip"Ital (The Universal Side)"--The Roots feat. Q-Tip (1996)
''Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...
''. Accessed on September 23, 2018. (The Ummah
The Ummah was a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and the late Jay Dee (also known as J Dilla) of the Detroit-based group Slum Village. Occasional members included Raphae ...
), Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...
, Scratch, Chaos, L.A. Jay, Slimkid3
Trevant Hardson (born October 5, 1970), best known by his stage name Slimkid3 (Slim Kid Tre; sometimes stylized as SlimKid3), is an American rapper from Los Angeles. He is a founding member of The Pharcyde.
Career
Tre Hardson began his career ...
, Scott Storch
Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots.
Early life
Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Phila ...
* Executive Producer: Richard Nichols
* Mixing Engineer(s): Bob Power
Bob Power is an American Grammy Award–winning and multi-platinum record producer, audio engineer, composer, arranger, performer, and music educator.
Early life
Power was born in Chicago, moved to Rye, New York, then moved to St. Louis, Missou ...
, Duro, Questlove, Black Thought, Richard Nichols, Kelo, Tim Donovan, Mel Lewis
* Photography: Michael Lavine
* Layout Design: Julius Niskey
References
Notes
*
External links
*
Illadelph Halflife
' at Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Album Review
at RapReviews
Deeper Roots: The Funky Four from Illadelphia Get Electric
— By ''Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...
''
Critic's Pick: A Different Drum
— By ''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
''
{{Authority control
1996 albums
Albums produced by Q-Tip (musician)
Albums produced by Questlove
Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq
Albums produced by Scott Storch
DGC Records albums
The Roots albums