About

‘How I Got Over’ is a Roots album in quintessential fashion, creeping in at the tip of the second decade of the new millennium. It’s the hungry stomach of a child of Recession, the oft-overdue rent notice, the smoke cloud of Bush, Jr., followed by the hazy ray of Obama. These Philly streets never paved themselves in gold, no matter how far the Roots have paved their way. Still, the next breath brings solitude even when the next meal is questionable. ‘How I Got Over’ moves at this very pace, never trading tender moments for high stakes. The songs treat such a title as the question and the suggestion it is, operate as guidelines for survival and cries for direction. These are extended conversations with self, with God, with country. It’s hustler music as hustlers do it, borne from a shifting world of infinite corners to get it how we live. That’s right: living is the only option for us, give hell or high tension. - VMP