The Roots: The Tipping Point

By REBECCA BARRY

Herald rating * * * *

With their smart rhymes, jazzy beats and art-school pedigree, Philadelphian collective the Roots have always been critical darlings, a hip-hop band whose cutting-edge ideas have never compromised the accessibility of their songs.

But the title of their sixth album - named after the Malcolm Gladwell book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - will probably incite frustration. It's not the huge leap forward it suggests, particularly compared with its experimental, sprawling, predecessor, Phrenology.

Still, it's an impressive offering, combining a more commercially skewed approach with old-school sensibilities. Opening track Star blends a crackly Sly & the Family Stone sample with ?uestlove's dangerously syncopated beats; Stay Cool injects 60s psychedelia into a scorching funk track and Boom! sounds like the Beastie Boys and the Fugees vying for attention.

Although it's a little uninspired lyrically - a point hammered home by the satirical mumbling on Don't Say Nuthin' - there are enough hooks to stop The Tipping Point falling flat.

THE ROOTS: THE TIPPING POINT (GEFFEN)

Acclaimed art-school hip-hop crew play it straight