''Phrenology'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released on November 26, 2002, by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2000 to September 2002 at

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...

in New York. It was primarily produced by members of the band and features contributions from hip hop and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

artists such as Cody ChesnuTT,

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel influences fused w ...

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

, and Jill Scott. Although it did not parallel the commercial success of the band's previous album, ''

Things Fall Apart ''Things Fall Apart'' is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. It is seen as the ...

'', the album reached number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and sold steadily, remaining on the chart for 38 weeks. The Roots Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200 '' Billboard''. Retrieved on 2011-02-23. On June 3, 2003, it was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Upon its release, ''Phrenology'' received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its musical direction and lyrical themes, and it was included in numerous publications' year-end lists of the year's best albums.Acclaimed Music – Phrenology
. AcclaimedMusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.

Background

Following the breakthrough success of ''

'' (1999), its release was highly anticipated and delayed, as recording took two years. The album is named after the discredited

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

of phrenology, the study of head shapes to determine intelligence and character, which was used to rationalize racism during the 19th century in the United States. Its cover art was created by artist/printmaker

Tom Huck Tom Huck, also spelled Hück, (born 1971), is an American printmaker best known for his large-scale satirical woodcuts. He lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri, where he runs his own press, Evil Prints. He is a regular contributor to BLAB! of ...

Music and lyrics

Primarily a hip hop album, ''Phrenology'' features lyrical themes of

hip hop culture Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...

and its commodification, with musical elements of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 m ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

, and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

.Hoard, Christian.
Review: ''Phrenology''
. ''Rolling Stone'': 702–703. November 2, 2004. According to music critic

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

, the Roots forge a connection between hip hop and

on the album, while ''Treble'' writer says it can "best be described" as

progressive rap Progressive rap (or progressive hip hop) is a broad subgenre of hip hop music that aims to progress the genre thematically with socially transformative ideas and musically with stylistic experimentation. Developing through the works of innovati ...

, and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

''s Raymond Fiore calls it the band's "left-field rock-rap opus". A production of the Soulquarians collective, the album features contributions by Cody ChesnuTT,

, and Jill Scott. On "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)", Amiri Baraka performs a poem about how the spirit of death and decay permeates African-American urban experiences. Set to a fusion of several

African-American music African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slaver ...

influences, his poem observes "something in the way of our selves" and uses unusual imagery such as death "riding on top of the car peering through the windshield" and a "

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

squinting at us through the cage" with a smile "that ain't a smile but teeth flying against our necks".

Critical reception

''Phrenology'' received widespread acclaim from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 87, based on 23 reviews. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' magazine hailed it as a "masterpiece", while ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' writer Pat Blashill said it has "a startling array of hip-hop reinventions". Dave Heaton from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' called ''Phrenology'' "an impressive, ambitious work" that shows the Roots "filling their sound out and pushing it in a variety of directions", with a form of "tight soul/funk" that "sounds even more exact, funkier and edgier" than on ''Things Fall Apart''. In the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'', critic

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of '' Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', '' Guitar World'' and ''Modern Drummer'', and for ...

gave the record four out of four stars and called it "a near-classic right out of the gate, an urgent, raucous and thought-provoking 70 minutes that mine the musical territory between hard hip-hop and smoother

Philly soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...

". ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

''s RJ Smith called it "a celebration of self-determination, a nonstop joyride through some very complicated brains". Jeremy Gladstone from ''

Kludge A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet sla ...

'' felt the Roots had combined "complicated beats" with "complex lyrics" to produce a "shockingly honest sound". In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Alexis Petridis found the group "exclusively capable of absorbing other genres", while the "more straightforward hip-hop" is "idiosyncratic and hugely enjoyable". '' Slant Magazine''s Sal Cinquemani called the album "subtly progressive" and felt the lyrics "challenge the commodification and subsequent destruction of hip-hop culture". In a less enthusiastic review, ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine said ''Phrenology'' shows the Roots' "willingness to push the envelope of their organic jazz-rap" that is unparalleled but sometimes musically pretentious or indulgent, particularly on "Something in the Way of Things" and the coda to "Water".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor Steve Huey felt it is "a challenging, hugely ambitious opus that's by turns brilliant and bewildering, as it strains to push the very sound of hip-hop into the future." He also called it the band's "hardest-hitting" album because they successfully "re-create their concert punch in the studio." In his column for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', Robert Christgau believed the Roots have finally discovered how to write tuneful and structured music on ''Phrenology'', as they "humanize their formal commitment with injections of singing and guitar". At the end of 2002, ''Phrenology'' was named one of the year's best albums. It was voted the seventh best album of 2002 in ''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 abs ...

, an annual poll of American critics. ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004) later gave it four-and-a-half stars and cited "Water" as a highlight, "that begins with the age-old

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

beat and ends as an extended '' musique concrète''-style instrumental fantasia". ''Phrenology'' was included in the 2010 reference book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

'' and in

Tom Moon Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author, and music critic. He is known for his book ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Composers, Auth ...

's '' 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'' (2008). '' Slant Magazine'' listed the album at number 231 on its "Top 250 Albums of the 2000s" (2010). Based on such listings, Acclaimed Music ranks ''Phrenology'' as the 19th most acclaimed album of 2002 and the 177th most acclaimed album of the 2000s.

Track listing

Information is adapted from the album's liner notes. "(co.)" denotes Co-producer. Sample credits and notes * "Thought @ Work" contains elements from the composition " Apache" by

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's onl ...

, "Jam on the Groove" by Ralph McDonald, and "Human Beat Box" by

The Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark " Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, ...

. According to Questlove, recording artist

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

"drop in" on the track. * "Water" comprises three parts, noted in Questlove's liner notes as "a. the first movement / b. the abyss / c. the drowning", and contains elements of "Her Story" by

The Flying Lizards The Flying Lizards were an experimental English new wave band, formed in 1976. They are best known for their eccentric cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money", featuring Deborah Evans-Stickland on lead vocals, which reached the UK and US re ...

. * "Quills" contains elements of "Breakout" by Swing Out Sister and features guest vocals from Tracey Moore of the

Jazzyfatnastees Jazzyfatnastees is a vocal duo, Tracey Moore (born 1970) and Mercedes Martinez (born 1969). Originally a vocal quartet, they landed a deal with Tommy Boy in 1993. In 1997, their contract with Tommy Boy ended, two other members Stevvi Alexander ...

. * "Pussy Galore" contains elements of "Because I Got It Like That" by the

Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall ( Afrika Baby Bam), and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Known as the pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hi ...

. * On the CD version of the album, there are 18 tracks instead of 16: Tracks 15, 16 and 17 are silent blank tracks. Track 18 starts with another 2:00 of silence, and after that consists of two untitled songs, identified as "Rhymes and Ammo", originally from '' Soundbombing III'' (2002) and featuring

, and "Thirsty!", which is originally a track by Elektrochemie LK called "When I Rock".

Personnel

Credits for ''Phrenology'' adapted from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

.Credits: ''Phrenology''
Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.

Musicians

* Black Thought – vocals * Sarah Chun – cello * Omar Edwards – arp synthesizer * Nelly Furtado – background vocals * Michelle Golder – cello * Kamal Gray – keyboards, theremin, production * Jef Lee Johnson – guitar *

– featured artist * Talib Kweli – vocals * Malik B. – featured artist * Tracey Moore – background music *

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

– featured artist *

James Poyser James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots. Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists such as Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, ...

– moog synthesizer, strings * Questlove – assistant engineer, drums, mixing, production, sequencing * Rahzel – beatboxing * Ursula Rucker – featured artist * Jill Scott – vocals *

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...

– guitar * Nuah Vi – cello * Hope Wilson – screams *

Ben Kenney Benjamin Lee Kenney Sr. (born March 12, 1977) is an American musician from Brielle, New Jersey. He is the current bass guitarist for the band Incubus (since 2003) and had previously played in the Roots as a guitarist. He also records as a sol ...

- guitar

Production

* Jon Adler – assistant * Pablo Arraya – assistant * Jim Bottari – engineer * Andrew Brooks – assistant * Cody ChesnuTT – producer * Jeff Chestek – engineer, mixing * Tom Coyne – assistant, mastering, mixing * Kareem Da Bawl – producer * Andre Dandridge – assistant * DJ Scratch – producer * Robert "LB" Dorsey – assistant, engineer * Caliph Gamble – assistant * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Gordon Glass – assistant * Jason Goldstein – mixing * Kenny J. Gravillis – design * Tom "Evil Prints" Huck – illustrations * Ben Kenney – mixing * Steve Mandel – assistant, engineer * Carlos "Storm" Martinez – engineer * James McKrone – assistant * Shinobu Mitsuoka – assistant * Kurt Nepogoda – assistant * Richard Nichols – executive producer, mixing * Omar the Scholar – producer * Bob Power – mixing * Kareem Riggins – producer * Kelo Saunders – producer * Jesse Shatkin – assistant * Jon Smeltz – engineer * Scott Storch – producer * Tahir – producer * Shawn Taylor – assistant * Steef Van De Gevel – assistant * Vince Vilorenzo – assistant * Scott Whiting – assistant * Ray Wilson – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

References

Bibliography

External links

*
"Between Grooves"
by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' {{Authority control 2002 albums Albums produced by Questlove Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by DJ Scratch Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios MCA Records albums The Roots albums Progressive rap albums