Released in 1996, "Illadelph Halflife" quickly established itself as a classic of the genre and heralded the group's future hits. The Hip Hop beats and Soul samples make this album a natural descendant of ATCQ's "Midnight Marauders" or De La Soul's "Stakes Is High." Common, ATCQ, Bahamadia, D'Angelo, and Raphael Saadiq lent their expertise to The Roots for this gem, contributing their flow mastery to what would remain a Hip Hop masterpiece.