Ursula Rucker

When The Roots’ fourth album, Things Fall Apart, came out, The Ordinary Girl still believed in a lot of things. My fingers lingered over YMag articles. I carried MP3 compilations, which always, always listed some or other Aesop Rock album first, from school to home and back again frequently. I sat in on the recording sessions that saw my brother’s beats become the bed for budding rappers to lie on. Really now, straight from the dome in the booth? Ha. I’m just kidding guys, don’t be mad. Aaaaaaaanyway.

Everyone came to my house. It was like a mens hostel, except these rappers weren’t quite men yet. My brother’s room is where the computer stayed and the speakers were loud (even though my screechy voice was louder). So whenever I had a moment alone with the PC - which was rare - I would sit in my brother’s room. I’d listen to this Things Fall Apart album and watch the Media Player’s colourful lazer lines sprout from the centre of the screen with every thump of Thought’s rhymes. But my favourite bit of the album wasn’t even by a member of The Roots.

It was Ursula Rucker’s Return To Innocence Lost.

Rucker has often featured on The Roots' albums but this particular piece (all damn near 12 minutes of it) had a profound effect on me and especially in how I write today. I don’t know what Rucker’s words meant or mean to you, but I do know that they made me realise the world was a much bigger place than I thought it was then. And I didn’t even have to leave my brother’s room to find this out. Tracking down some footage of this beautiful woman performing Return To Innocence Lost is incredibly difficult, so shout out to Otis Groove for making this accessible. It’s obviously not exactly what you’ll hear on Things Fall Apart, but perhaps this will prompt you to go get this album if you don’t already own it.

Ursula Rucker return to innocence lost (prod by Otis Groove) from Otis Groove on Vimeo.