Things Fall Apart is the fourth studio album by American hip hop band the Roots, released on February 23, 1999, by MCA Records.

Sessions for the album coincided with those for other Soulquarians projects at Electric Lady, including D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun (2000), and Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000).

Initially, the song was supposed to feature a guest appearance from Mos Def's Black Star partner, Talib Kweli but due to the format of the track, it was decided to make it a throwback to the Run D.M.C./EPMD tag-team style of rap, with just two MCs.

The excerpt comes from a scene where Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes are discussing the current state of African American music (or culture in general) after a gig.

[26] Marie Elsie St. Léger of Barnes & Noble wrote in her review that the album had "Unfussy yet precise production, irresistible beats, and smooth rhymes.

"[27] Spin's Neil Kulkarni suggested that "the Roots have created perhaps rap's first melancholy masterpiece", noting "a downered, fragmented feel to the music that weaves through the lyrics' bleak resignation to instill real poignancy and effect.

"[24] Steve Jones of USA Today complimented the band's "jazzy, live instrumentation and dense, insightful lyrics" and commented that it "elevates hip-hop with literate, thoughtful grooves".

[28] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau criticized Kamal Gray's "omnipresent ostinato beds", but commended the band for "looking back to the old-school rap they loved before they discovered jazz lite", and stated "What's so consistently annoying on their earlier intelligent records is almost hooky on this one, integral to a flow that certainly does just that, which isn't to say you won't be relieved when it rocks the house instead".

[2] Writing for The Root in 2018, Panama Jackson described "Act Too (The Love of My Life)" as "one of the best beats in hip-hop history...it's so ethereal and beautiful and fit perfectly with the verses".