*** The Roots

ILLADELPH HALFLIFE

(DGC)

The marriage of live music and rapping, an often failed experiment, is done properly by Philadelphia hip-hop purists the Roots and their talented cast of like-minded accomplices. Illadelph Halflife, their second album, is at once cool and deadly, as drums, steady bass lines, and spacy keyboards blend with hardcore lyrics. On "The Hypnotic," Black Thought weaves a complex tale over guest D'Angelo's vocal and Fender Rhodes meanderings and crackling snares. It's about an ex-girlfriend he loses touch with who winds up dead, "a victim of the wicked system that controlled her." The first single, "Clones," offers slight relief from the thumping, resonating drums and vicious lyrics of guest rappers M.A.R.S. and Dice Raw with the more cerebral offerings of group members Malik B and Black Thought. On "Concerto of a Desperado," Black Thought lets fake gangsters know, "I pull a microphone on any pistol brandisher." With this platter, the Roots preserve the vital continuity between different generations and genres of black music.

-- Adam Matthews