Just this past July, San Antonio group Third Root dropped the first in a three-part series of EPs called Trill Pedagogy: Sumer Semester. With the fall semester well underway, they’ve now returned with the second EP, Fall Semester.

In case you are unaware, MexStep and Easy Lee, the two emcees of Third Root, have double lives as educators, which in turn often informs their music. This was already present in the naming of these EPs, and the subject material was touched on in Summer Semester, but on Fall Semester the classroom is the first and foremost topic of discussion. They continue to work with producer Adrian Quesada, so there is a sonic continuation as well onto Fall Semester, providing that crucial mix of Texan Afro-Latin funk for Step and Lee to rhyme over. We also get contributions from frequent collaborators Bavu Blakes (also an educator), Kam Franklin, and Black Pumas, who help round out the sound of the EP. To take this idea of the education theme one step further, we get as a framework for the EP three short snippets of an interview done with Kendrick Lamar’s 7th grade ELA teacher, Mr. Inge. Now, the real key here is not how do you rap about education, but how do you do it without coming across as corny? The answer is to one, put in the work to become top notch emcees who can rock a crowd, and two, don’t condescend or preach to the audience. I know this because that’s exactly what Third Root has done here. They keep it funky and fresh and rock the beats like they would any other project, and they talk about the ins and outs about teaching the youth honestly, because they are relating experiences from their own lives. It sounds simple on paper, but it’s much more difficult in practice.

Fall Semester builds off our first lesson and continues the smart rhymes and funky beats. Third Root once again does a great job of making hip hop that is good for us, but it’s also fun to listen to.