This is the eighth studio album from Philadelphia legends The Roots. I’ve been looking forward to this album for a while, if only because I was a little let down with The Rising Down. Not that the album was bad, but it didn’t stick with me like The Tipping Point or The Game Theory.

How I Got Over starts off slow with a treble a capella group singing dos and dahs as electric piano, bass, and drums are folded in, but it never grows beyond that until we get to the second track. “Walk Alone” features Truck North, P.O.R.N. and Dice Raw contributing to a meditative down-tempo song about finding oneself, with mostly just piano and drums. It gradually fleshes out before transitioning into “Dear God 2.0” with Monsters of Folk, one of two songs that will allow some ignorant rock critics to label this he Roots’ indie-rock album, along with “Right On,” which samples Joanna Newsom’s “The Book of Right-On.”

However, it would be a shame to take such a short-sighted view of this album, because there is so much more going here, and both of those songs fit within the album’s larger context. Most of the album has a down-tempo jazz/R&B vibe to it, and the overall theme of the album seems to be introspection and self-improvement. The title track is a great number inspired by Curtis Mayfield, focusing on the negative impact that nihilism has on growing up on the streets.

I was nervous about the Newsom cameo would work, but it’s actually my favorite track on the album. I also appreciate the closing track on the album, “Hustla,” a plea to children to make their own way and refuse to settle for what is handed to them. It also boasts the great chorus, “Let them be a hustla, if not than you’re only a customer.”

Attention must be also paid to the killer heavy funk that ?uestlove lays down on the drums. So good. And while I’ve mentioned a few of the guest artists and left out a few others who also contribute nicely, I’ve failed to properly acknowledge the lyrics of Black Thought for leading this journey of self-reflection.

This might not be my favorite Roots album, but it’s definitely been stuck in my car since I got it.