This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Plenty of hip-hop artists are wizards in the recording studio, but there aren’t nearly as many who can pull it off as well live.
Then there are The Roots, the Philly crew whose musical skills serve them just as well on stage as on tape. This five-track EP — a preview of their upcoming live album — captures them at their best as they reproduce hits like The Next Movement, lead audience singalongs or jam jazzily without missing a beat. While most rap acts are content to lip-synch to tapes, The Roots leave no doubt that it’s live and not Memorex.
