''How I Got Over'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

band

the Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

. It was released on June 22, 2010, by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. Produced primarily by band members

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ...

, Dice Raw, and Rick Friedrich, ''How I Got Over'' features a subtle, somber sound and lyrics concerning themes of

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, existentialism, and African-American middle-class angst. Although primarily a hip hop album, its music also draws on

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

,Vozick-Levinson, Simon
Review: ''How I Got Over''
''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''. Retrieved on June 19, 2010.

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

styles. The album debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 51,000 copies in its first week. It was also met with widespread critical acclaim and named by several publications as one of the best albums from 2010. Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

later called ''How I Got Over'' the Roots' "most substantial" album and the best of the 2010s.

Recording and production

In 2008, the Roots stated that their final album would be '' Rising Down'' (2008), until drummer and producer for the Roots,

, stated via his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account that the band would release an album called ''How I Got Over'' in the summer. ''How I Got Over'' was recorded during the Roots' tenure as the house band for ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

''. It was recorded in sessions at several

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

studios—A House Called Quest, Fruity Loops, The Boom Room, and The Studio—and at MSR Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. On June 23, 2009, ''Billboard'' reported: "Among the tracks expected to make the cut are 'Walk Alone,' the vintage R&B-leaning 'Make a Move,' 'The Day' featuring Icelandic vocalist Patty Crash and a cover of Frank Zappa's instrumental classic 'Peaches en Regalia.' 'How I Got Over' is also expected to include a version of Cody Chesnutt's 'Serve This Royalty;' the singer-songwriter rose to fame in 2002 when the Roots re-recorded his song 'The Seed' for their album ''

Phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

''". From the tracks initially expected to make the album, only 'The Day', 'Walk Alone' and the title song 'How I Got Over' made the final track listing. Similar to the previous The Roots full-length, 2008's '' Rising Down'', the album features a wide array of guest singers and rappers.

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

appears on the single 'The Fire' and alternative rock group

Monsters of Folk Monsters of Folk was an American supergroup, consisting of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Will Johnson from Centro-matic and M. Ward, solo artist and half of She & Him. The band was formed in ...

help The Roots remake their own song, 'Dear God' into an updated '...2.0' version which was released as the most promoted single. The album also feature a track that samples

Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. After recording and self-releasing two EPs in 2002, Newsom signed to the independent label Drag City (record label), Drag City. Her debut album, ''The Milk-Eyed ...

's "Book of Right-On," a track featured on her 2004 release

The Milk-Eyed Mender ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on March 23, 2004, by Drag City. Background Newsom wrote all the songs on the album except for "Three Little Babes", a traditional Appala ...

, as well as new overdubs for the track, The Roots' version appears under the title 'Right On' here.The Roots Enlist John Legend, Others For "How I Got Over"
. HipHopDX. Retrieved on June 7, 2010.

Release and sales

The album was set to be released in February 2010, but was subsequently pushed back to June 8, 2010. Their ninth album, it was released June 22, 2010 on

. The album debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with first-week sales of 51,000 copies. It also entered at number three on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s

R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

and

Rap Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

charts,R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Week of July 10, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on June 26, 2010.Rap Albums - Week of July 10, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on June 26, 2010. and at number four on the

Digital Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart.Digital Albums - Week of July 10, 2010
''Billboard''. Retrieved on June 26, 2010. In Canada, the album entered at number 14 on the Top 100 Albums chart..

Jam! Jam! was a Canadian website which covered entertainment news. It was part of the Canoe.com online portal, formerly owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division, and now owned by Postmedia Network. Jam! was the only media outl ...

. Retrieved on 2 January 2020. It also charted at number three in Switzerland, at number 117 in France, at number 61 in the Netherlands, and at number 35 in New Zealand.Album Performance: ''How I Got Over''
acharts. Retrieved on 2 January 2020. In its second week on the ''Billboard'' 200, ''How I Got Over'' dropped to number 17 and sold 21,000 copies. It fell to number 25 on the chart and sold 14,000 copies in its third week. By November 3, 2010, the album had sold 151,000 copies in the US.

Critical reception

''How I Got Over'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 86, based on 23 reviews. According to the website, it was the 15th-best reviewed album of 2010. Reviewers praised ''How I Got Over'' for its slow-grooving music, the contributions of its guest artists, and the substance of its lyrics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Andy Kellman described the album as "deeply planted in realism ... gracefully and cleverly sequenced", while ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' critic Nathan Brackett highlighted The Roots' incorporation of

elements into an " in the pocket" sound. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Nate Patrin deemed ''How I Got Over'' "a particularly efficient album ... the Roots' shortest (a lean 42 and a half minutes), one of their most lyrically straightforward, and a work of strong stylistic cohesion". In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.the economic downturn of the late 2000s. "Even in its boasts, ''How I Got Over'' is selfless: an album of doubts, parables and pep talks", Pareles wrote. James Shahan from '' URB'' found it "dark and tragic in places, but also enlightening and empowering", and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' journalist

Charles Aaron Charles Aaron is an American music journalist and editor, formerly for ''Spin'' magazine, where he worked for 23 years. Personal life Charles Aaron was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina and Rome, Georgia ...

said "you'd have to rewind early-'90s Scarface or Wu-Tang for such convincingly cold-eyed hip-hop existentialism". Writing for ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History ...

'',

was impressed by how the rappers on the album had expressed "garden-variety upper-middle-class anxiety" in a forthright, thoughtful, articulate, and enjoyable manner, while musical elements such as Kamal Gray's keyboards and Questlove's drums "embodied" the "fortitude and even optimism" of the lyrics. Eric Henderson was less enthusiastic in ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'', finding the lyrics inconsistent and "mildly self-delusional" while calling the album "stylistically the most inert, contemplative, offputtingly soft music they've possibly ever released". Critics also included the album in their top-10 records lists for 2010; it was ranked at number seven by ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', number five by both ''The A.V. Club'' and Todd Martens from the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', number 10 by both ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'' and

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of ''Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', ''Guitar World'', ''Matter'' and '' Modern Drummer'' ...

, and number three by

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

. Christgau named ''How I Got Over'' the year's best album and wrote in '' The Barnes & Noble Review'', "in 2010 what sounded best was the Roots' brave and sometimes painful change-of-life hip-hop, a multivalent reflection on the pop lifer's danger years, the late thirties." He later called it the "most substantial" album of the Roots' career and the best album of the 2010s. ''How I Got Over'' was also nominated for a 2011 Grammy Award in the category of

Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...

, but lost to

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

's '' Recovery''.

Track listing

Continuation from '' Rising Down'' The track listing was confirmed by

Okayplayer Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists". The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...

Personnel

Credits for ''How I Got Over'' adapted from liner notes.Track listing and credits as per liner notes for ''How I Got Over'' album * Executive producer: Richard Nichols * A&R: Lenny S.,

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...

* A&R operations: Leesa D. Brunson * A&R administration: Mark Tavern * Mastered by: Dave Kutch * Marketing: Chris Atlas, Paul Resta * Management: Shawn Gee, Richard Nichols * Business management: Shawn Gee, SEFG LLC * Creative management: Richard Nichols, CoolHunter LLC * Art direction: Richard Nichols, Kenny Gravillis, Todd Russell * Design: Gravillis, Inc. * Art, photography coordination: Kristen Yiengst, Tai Linzie * The Roots photography: Ben Watts * Styling: Rebecca Pietri, www.hommepourfemme.com * Gromming: Fahim * Legal counsel: Brad A. Rubens * Business affairs: Randy McMillan, Antoinette Trotman, Ian Allen * Sample clearances: Deborah Mannis-Gardner for DMG Clearances, Inc. * Engineer: Josh Burnette

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2010 albums Albums produced by Questlove Def Jam Recordings albums The Roots albums