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Continuing our recap of socially relevant Juneteenth releases, today we’ve got one of the most conscious hip-hop acts the Lone Star State has to offer: Third Root. Composed of San Antonio educator/lyricists Charles “Easy Lee” Peters and Marco “Mexican StepGrandfather” Cervantes as well as internationally-renowned turntablist DJ Chicken George, Third Root may be a bit more academically-leaning than some of their central Texas counterparts, but they’ve never had an issue breaking issues down into a conversational vernacular to get the crowd moving.
Last Friday these Studio 1A veterans and frequent airwave guests shared their fourth full-length Passion of the Poets, marking yet another collaboration with producer Adrian Quesada and featuring guests like Bavu Blakes, Black Pumas, and Grupo Fantasma. The twelve-track album gives a newly refined studio energy to songs we’ve loved for years, especially the live show staple “Mexstep 4 President” (a campaign announcement that we’ll take any day now…). It’s an incredibly well-calculated balance between beats you just want to bang out all day and lyrics that’ll keep you thinking all night, a prime example of which comes from legendary producer El Dusty, “Did I? (Put Enough Work In)”.
-Jack Anderson
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