The Roots’ You Got Me

The setting was New York City in 1998 and my Hip-Hop world was mired with Big Pun, Busta Rhymes, Posthumous Tupac, and of course The Legendary Roots Crew. The Roots were a sharp contrast to the hard core genre that those previously mentioned represented. They were Hip-Hop’s live band that pushed the elements of the music to produce something real and honest.

The roots took a different route with “Things Fall Apart” as the first single was a radio hit. Black Thought, Erika Badu, and Eve single handedly helped me figure out the type of girl i wanted to end up with. Intelligent, humble, but most importantly conscious of self and yes, i got all that from a song. Black Thought raps, “…We back in Philly now she up in my spot, telling me the things I’m telling her is making her hot, started building with her constantly round the clock, now she in my world like Hip-Hop…” That line alone has had me searching over a decade for her. Wow! I felt like I wrote it.

Eve came correct as well as her verse made me imagine how my girl would cutely back talk to me as we discussed our situation. “When cats be rhyming game I don’t hear what they saying boo, when you out there in the world I’m still your girl, with all my classes I don’t have the time for life’s thrills, so when you sweating on stage think of me when you’re rhyming…” that’s a verse for a girl that will do anything for her man.

We all know the Hip-Hop love story all too well. The lost Boys talked about it with “Renee”, Cool James was his regular raunchy self on “Don It” so we all were accustomed to it but The Roots changed my whole idea of relationships and pursuing girls by just being honest.

It’s not clear if it was the song itself that did it or my own personal experiences that made me want what Black Thought and Eve pretended to have in their song. Every thing in life influences us as humans, especially the arts. The Roots released a masterpiece in “Things Fall Apart” and a flawless love story in You got Me.