THE ROOTS The Tipping Point Island ***

As they retire to their Philadelphia cribs after another hard day's toil at the politically-correct hip-hop mill, take off their runners and crack open cans of beer, even The Roots themselves must realise that being everyone's favourite hip-hop act is not so neat when you don't see the same cash and chart glory lesser talents attract. The use of Malcom Gladwell's buzz-marketing book title is a somewhat sardonic indication that they view this album as the one to backpack them into the mainstream. Musically, they are reprising their pre-Phenology swerve; that adventurous 2002 album saw them going for creative broke, but it disappointingly attracted few new takers. What The Tipping Point tries to do is ignore this backwards step by putting a more chart-friendly smiley face onto everything we already know about The Roots. Sometimes it works and everyone applauds with gusto: Star is a spacey, funky reincarnation of Sly Stone's Everybody Is A Star, while the nagging, simple melodic drone of Guns Are Drawn is the sound of an act flexing muscles with a new purpose. Elsewhere, though, you quickly realise that you have heard this before. Few new fans will be convinced by another set of tracks featuring Black Thought calling the odds over the funkiest, live show-honed barnstorming ?uestlove and company can muster. Let's hope that this is not as good as it gets.
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