A Stripped-Down Hip-Hop Beat

Critics of hip-hop tend to decry the genre as musically stunted, but it’s actually proven to be remarkably malleable.

Lauryn Hill and OutKast may have shared the bill last weekend at the Universal Amphitheatre, but they have radically different ideas about the components of hip-hop. So does Philadelphia sextet the Roots, one of a handful of respected hip-hop acts that plays its own instruments.

In the studio, particularly on their new “Things Fall Apart” album, the Roots are hip-hop minimalists, juxtaposing socially conscious lyrical buckshot against spare jazz-funk arrangements. On stage Monday at the House of Blues, however, the band pulled back even further.

Even when Black Thought, the group’s main MC, laid it on fast and furious, the rhythm section wisely held its airy grooves in check. And rather than rely on a DJ to create beats and provide samples, the Roots showcased Rahzel’s and Scratch’s dazzling verbal beat-box gymnastics.

In the show’s second half, the band engaged in playful one-upmanship, as each member grabbed the spotlight for extended solos that flirted with self-indulgence. Fortunately, the set ended with a bang, as rapper Common joined the Roots for an extended version of “You Got Me” that ratified the group’s reputation as one of hip-hop’s most explosive live acts.