The genius of Undun, a thread

Undun has grown on me to become one of my favorite albums of all time. All the songs are perfection and 10/10s in my opinion. This thread will be deconstructing the genius of Undun as a whole and its each song. Hope you enjoy.

Undun was the 10th studio album by the legendary American hip-hop band, The Roots. Released on December 2nd, 2011, Undun revolved around the tragic life of fictional character Redford Stevens in urban poverty in a reverse order, meaning that the plot is evolved in a -(1/8)

reverse order. It was critically acclaimed by music critics and the fans, ending up on many year/decade end lists. (2/8)

Undun is an existential concept album about the fictional character Redford Stevens who is named after a Sufjan Stevens song. Through the use of emotives and Redford’s internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as- (3/8)

it plays out ‘on the corner’. It discusses his short and tragic life in urban poverty. They portray Redford as a gangster who was born in poverty but rose to wealth as he went forward in his life. It talks about Redford’s life of him trying to achieve wealth but when he- (4/8)

does he isn’t happy with it and wishes he could walk away from it, about the life of crime that he had to live in order to get where he wished he did and how that same thing that he thought would make him happy gets him killed in the end.- (5/8)

The whole album is narrated from a 1st person view. For the album The Roots decided to take up a different approach than what they normally did in terms of production style, songwriting, feature artists etc. They decided to use a different style of production from their (6/8)

usual boom-bap style that they had used for most of their careers. The crew is an important part of the ‘Late nights with Jimmy Fallon show’, they needed to write short concise rhymes every night for the show, many of the lines, aired or not aired were used by the roots in (7/8)

the album. This helped them discover a new type of songwriting style as told by ?uestlove, one of the main producers and the main drummer of the band.
The main theme of the album is that is destiny built by the person themselves or already carved?(8/8)

Track 1. Dun
The first track ‘Dun’ opens with a flatline note, signifying Redford’s death. Meaning the album, starts from the end. The album as a whole is about the life of Redford, this track portrays the end of his life. It features no vocals but just a flatline instrument(1/2)

and static voices at the end. The absolute silence is Redford moments before his death, he is tired and knows that death is near. The static sounds at the end signify the exact moment of his death. (2/2)

Track 2. Sleep ft. Son Little
This is my personal favorite from the album, after the first track ‘Dun’, it transitions into this track, ‘Sleep’. The transition feels very smooth. This track talks about the moments before Redford’s death and his thoughts before his death. (1/3)

It features a calm/slow instrumental which helps build an image of what Redford must have been thinking before his passing. Black Thought raps about Redford’s thoughts before dying. One of the main things to take away from the track that is also used later in the album is(2/3)

the idea that Redford has more nightmares than dreams. He talks about the karma that must come back to him, his soul, the criminal activity he was involved in while he was alive how he wonders if his family will remember him after he’s gone and accepting his death. (3/3)

Track 3. Make My ft. Big K.R.I.T, Dice Raw
This track talks about Redford’s killing. It features Big K.R.I.T, he opens up the track with his verse in 1st person, talking about his criminal life, the ‘sins’ he might have committed, asking god for forgiveness for his deeds(1/4)

the ideas that he lived by. Another important theme of the track is about wealth, K.R.I.T talks about how he was too distracted by his wealth and his lifestyle and how he kept wanting to chase more of it without knowing when to stop, how far he would go to get more. He(2/4)

talks about living the ‘American Dream’ and how the wealth that he had wanted all along has now blinded him. Dice Raw further talks about the death of Redford in the hook. Black Thought’s verse is also in 1st person. He raps about how Redford is scared of death, he is(3/4)

contemplating upon his life, thinking about how his life is just a small piece in the grander scheme of things, how he us afraid that he hasn’t impacted/left his mark on the earth now that he is about to die and seeking forgiveness for the crimes he has commited.(4/4)

Track 4. One Time ft. Phonte, Dice Raw
This track talks about the moments before Redford’s death. It starts off with a verse from the legendary MC, Phonte. He acknowledges Redford’s power, his fear in the streets, how his life is near perfect. He is filled with wealth at(1/5)

this point in his(Redford) life.
“I never hope for the best I wish a n**ga would, turn around and walk away? I wish a n**ga could. Listen to my instincts and say “Fuck the rest”. But once you’ve had the best better ain’t as good” is one of my personal favorite moments(2/5)

from the album. Phonte ties together a chain of thoughts talking about how he never used to wish for the best but wished he did, once the things started to come to him, he wished he could just walk away from all of it, before long he was stuck in the game and only had the(3/5)

power to wish he could walk away. He couldn’t stop though, he was stuck in the life, unable to follow his instincts and leave his partners and the “best” behind. Black Thought starts off his verse by glorifying Redford by metaphorically comparing him to Jesus. He raps about(4/4)

how now that he is wealthy, people might betray him. Redford’s sudden rise is like a drug to him, now that he knows he is falling off he is trying as hard as he can to find that type of wealth again before he dies.(5/5)

Track 5 Kool On ft. Greg Porn, Truck North
This is the track where Redford doesn’t know he is going to die, he is living a lavish life, acknowledging that he might die any moment because of where he is but isn’t afraid of it. The track starts off from vocals by Black Thought(1/4)

fading in. Greg Porn delivers the first verse, he raps about how his fame has stayed with him longer than it was supposed to, his royal life. Towards the end of the verse, he is somewhat fed up by his wealth and just wishes for his peace. Black Thought starts off his verse(2/4)

with a somewhat fed up tone, how he can’t sleep because he knows he can die any moment because people want him to die for the crimes he has committed. He is only praying for peace at this point. Truck North has the 3rd verse in this song, he raps about how he might kill his (3/4)

opponents/enemies, in contrast he raps about how he got to the point where he is, how his past life is so low for him at this point and how he is somewhat addicted to his luxury at this point.(4/4)

Track 6. The Other Side ft. Bilal, Greg Porn
This track deals with Redford’s newly found fame. Redford is somewhat addicted to his wealth at this point. Thought with the 1st verse raps about his success at this point and his life in the streets, this creates a contrast(1/4)

between his lifestyle now and then. He is arrogant now but he was just a kid in the hood that had no purpose to live at that point but the life of crime gave him a reason to live. The hook further builds up on the contrast created in the first verse. Redford never loved what(2/4)

he had and always wanted to chase more wealth but when he got it he wasn’t satisfied with it and now wanted what he had already had before but lost because he was chasing wealth, peace. He creates dark/gore images of the killing of a man and his own killing in the 2nd (3/4)

verse. In remembrance of the ones he lost along the way, Redford describes the struggles he faced and the scars that all of that loss has left on him forever.(4/4)

Track 7. Stomp ft. Greg Porn
This track deals with Redford trying to commit a drive-by shooting, his first real crime. Thought creates a sense of nervousness for the shooting in his verse but at the same time he doesn’t have any other choice but to be a part of the shooting(1/3)

he knows it will cut him off from everything he has lived for by now but power/fear for him is more important than family at this point. Thought creates an image of the shooting during his verse, he contemplates upon what he(Redford) is about to do and what happens after a(2/3)

person’s death ad wonders about what would happen to him himself after his death. Greg Porn delivers one of my personal favorite verses from the album next. He uses gore imagery and some of the best wordplay on the whole album to describe the shooting and its intensity(3/3)

Track 8. Lighthouse ft. Dice Raw
This track as a whole deals with Redford’s loneliness and how he is stuck in the middle, the ‘lighthouse’ is a symbol for his surroundings, “no one’s in the lighthouse” means that he’s alone at this point, his family is behind him and he (1/5)

isn’t a gangster yet. He tries to deal with his anger in the first verse with alcohol, punching ‘the man in the mirror’(it here means that he is fed up right now, he is trying to take out his anger but just ends up hurting himself by punching the mirror), he creates 2(2/5)

different personalities of Redford in this verse, the first is his fed up and angered self, the second is the man behind the mirror. This takes us inside his head and where he is mentally. The man behind the mirror is mocking him for trying to punch a reflection, these are (3/5)

the 2 sides of Redford at this time. He is contemplating suicide because of how lonely and fed up he is. Living weakens him now, the ‘man in the mirror’ or his second personality is telling him to live but he wants to end it all himself. Black Thought is saying that(4/5)

he might kill his old friend, memories don’t hold any value for him, the only thing he wants is power, dominance over others and he would go as far as he needs to to achieve that, even if it means killing his own people.(5/5)

Track 9. I Remember
This track is a reflection for Redford upon the decisions he has made in the past and their results. Black Thought starts off his verse with some of the most clever wordplay there is in the whole album, “I drew a 2 of hearts from a deck of cards"(1/5)

a 2 is the worst card in the deck, this line signifies that he started from the worst situation/circumstances. He tells his life as a story that is left unread like most of the stories of young black people coming up from the ghetto. He remembers the fallen ones and is(2/5)

recalling memories he had with them. He creates an image of his hood in the second verse, what he grew up with and what he remembers from his childhood, how depressing the times were growing up there. He compares things he did to the “Achilles’ heel”, achilles’ heel here (3/5)

acts as a symbol of inhumane acts that he had to commit. He compares baptization to gang culture, when someone is baptized, they start a sort of new life, in this situation the wordplay is that when there is a new member in a gang, they start a new life(4/5)

baptization is a painful process, when someone enters a gang, they need to prove themselves to their fellow members.(5/5)

Track 10. Tip The Scale ft. Dice Raw
This track talks about the struggle of Redford. As the title signifies, Redford is a common man at this point. He is only trying to get the best of what he can and trying to ‘tip the scale his way’. His motive at this point is to get(1/3)

wealth but he would also like to stay true to himself. He has debts to pay off that lead his to commit crimes. he tries to justify those choices to himself. He won’t accept any losses and work as hard as he has to get what he is dreaming for. He knows that through power is(2/3)

the only way he is going to make his mark at the world and get what he dreams for. He wants to stay out of the life of crime and stay true to himself but going forward, circumstances force him to commit crimes. He doesn’t want to live that life but he has to.(3/3)

Track 11. Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)
This track features only instrumentals. As we already know by now, the album is in reverse chronological order, this being towards the end of the album means that this is the start of Redford’s life. The whole album is told from a(1/2)

1st person perspective, no vocals signifies that Redford is a new born baby and cant speak or think right now.(2/2)

Track 12, 13, 14. Possibility (2nd Movement), Will to Power (3rd Movement), Finality (4th Movement)
The last 4 tracks feature no vocals, its only instrumentals. Possibility is more of a calm and beautiful instrumental. Redford at this point is just a baby starting to(1/3)

discover the world. Will to power features more random instrumentals that create a sense of panic, these are the moments of Redford’s birth. Finality is the last track of the album, it plays against the theme of choosing your own destiny and carving your own path,(2/3)

dealing with struggles how you find them. Was the path Redford went on predetermined or chosen?(3/3)

In conclusion, Undun one of the best albums of not only the decade but all time. All the songs are perfection, it has some of the best music that there is to offer in hip-hop. The Roots really solidified themselves as one of the best groups of all time if they hadn’t already(1/2)

before with Undun. I hope you enjoyed the thread, thanks for reading.(2/2)