Two years ago, the San Antonio trio known as Third Root made a splash when they dropped their album, Libertad. Now, after touring and promoting that album like crazy, it’s finally time for Mexican StepGrandfather, Easy Lee, and DJ Chicken George to release their next project. We get the first in a series of three EPs, called Trill Pedagogy: Summer Semester.

On their last album, Libertad, the group worked with a talented producer named Adrian Quesada. Nothing was broke, so they didn’t try to fix anything, which is to say that Third Root is continuing to work with Quesada on this project, and the results are fantastic. The EP sounds urgent, and it’s bursting with energy, and it pays respect to different roots of Texas music along the way. Not bad for a five song EP. They work with Black Pumas on “Born To Rhyme” to pay homage to the roots of soul and gospel in the state. “Passion of the Poets” not only pays tribute to the legendary DJ Screw on the hook, but also brings in legendary San Antonio emcee Mad One to drop some rhymes. “Fantasma Horns” sees them working with Austin mainstay Grupo Fantasma to explore their Mexican American roots. On top of all this, Quesada is there to make sure these beats bump, and that everything flows together. That allows Mex Step and Lee to hop on the mic and do their thing with ease, which they do, as they bring the Edutainment to the forefront. They are there to break down hip hop, politics, race relations, economics, and more, all while making sure the audience is still rockin’ to the beat. It’s exactly what you want from a group of veteran performers.

Normally, in a situation like this, I might expect the first of three EPs to ease us into to the project. Not with Third Root. These guys came with beats and rhymes that are fun, urgent, and loaded with information, connecting our past to the present and beyond. I don’t know where the project goes from here, but volume one is absolutely fantastic.