Production Breakdown: The Roots’ “Dear God 2.0”

As I've definitely implied, if not straight-up asserted in past columns, I find that the best material for sampling – aside from the classic funk/soul/jazz repertoire that have characterized past eras of rap, and remain a goldmine today – comes from the increasing number of non-urban artists who take cues from the sounds and techniques of hip-hop and other beat-driven genres. From Radiohead to Ratatat to whatever hipsters-with-drum-machines act will make their debut on Pitchfork's front page today, everyone wants a piece of that action – the results, of course, range from brilliant to, uh, bad. But those overt examples are just the tip of the iceberg; today, everything is drenched in hip-hop styles and techniques.

Which brings me to The Roots' newly-featured, “Dear God 2.0,” the latest single off the Philly icons' forthcoming How I Got Over LP. The record was highly acclaimed by Booth readers, not least for the pensive instrumental, which borrowed from a similarly-titled cut by Monsters of Folk, a group made up of singer-songwriter M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Bright Eyes members Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis. Though I assumed that the ?uest and co. had reworked M.O.F's track considerably, I was a little surprised at what I heard when I checked out the original.



Turns out that not only are they not monsters, but they don't play folk per se (though, after listening to a couple more tracks, it's clear that folk is one of the driving influences behind their sound.). While ?uest chopped the original's already hip-hop/soul-influenced groove up a little and (of course) punched up the percussion, the overall feel is much the same.

The really interesting thing about this track, however, is that the Monsters weren't entirely responsible for their version of “Dear God” (Titled “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.”)” For the original original groove, we have to go back to 1970, and take a listen to gospel singer Trevor Dandy's “Is There Any Love.”



Not only did the Monsters grab their organ/percussion instrumental from this classic cut, they borrowed the lyrical theme, turning their flipped version into a response to Dandy's track which The Roots' Black Thought proceeded to elaborate – how dope is that?

So, what have we learned? Great minds, and great beat-makers think alike I guess – and one good turn deserves another. Also, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. OK, now I'm just spouting cliches. But don't you feel a little smarter for knowing the genealogy of the Roots' latest single? Yeah, I thought so.