Everything about The Roots totally explained
The Roots, a.k.a.
The Legendary Roots Crew, are an influential
Grammy Award-winning
American band from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They are famed for a having a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip-hop which includes live instrumentation.
Their debut album was released in 1993 and they've collaborated with a wide range of artists from different genres, including
Roy Ayers and
Cody Chesnutt. Inspired by
Stetsasonic, The Roots have garnered critical acclaim and influenced many rap and R&B acts.
History
Origins and Organix
The group's original lineup was formed in
Philadelphia around 1987. They began to do shows around Philly and in 1992 or 1993 left to perform in Europe. They rented out a flat in London and performed in Europe for approximately one year. In order to sustain themselves financially,
The Roots released what would be known as their debut album:
Organix. The album went on to sell about 150,000 copies. Following the release of Organix, several major record labels offered deals and the band signed with
DGC Records, which at the time was better known for its
grunge music releases. With their new record deal, the quintet headed back to the states.
Do You Want More?!!!??!
Despite being ignored by the
hip-hop fanbase, The Roots' first album for DGC,
Do You Want More?!!!??! (recorded live without the use of
samples), was a moderate hit among
alternative music fans, partially due to the group's appearance at
Lollapalooza. The first single from the album, "Don't Feel Right", appeared on the internet in
May 2006, and is available for free download on several web sites. Various guest appearances had been rumored, but
Scratch Magazine confirmed only two:
Peedi Peedi and
Malik B. The late
J Dilla also produced one song on the album. The album's first video, titled "The Don't Feel Right Trilogy", premiered on
August 21,
2006, and features three songs, "In the Music", "Here I Come" and "Don't Feel Right". Despite critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination,
Game Theory has sold significantly less than the band's previous releases.
Rising Down
The Roots' eighth studio album (10th overall),
Rising Down, was released on
April 29,
2008, coinciding with the 16-year anniversary of the Rodney King riots of 1992. In the weeks before the album's release, the original first single "Birthday Girl", a radio-friendly collaboration with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump was removed from the album's tracklisting due to not fitting in with the rest of the album's tone. It remained on the iTunes version of the album as a bonus track, as well as on international releases. Picking up where Game Theory left off, the album maintains a dark and political tone throughout, featuring Black Thought and several guests venting off about the ills of society today. The album's guests include
Chrisette Michele,
Common,
Mos Def,
Saigon,
Styles P,
Talib Kweli,
Wale, Philly favorites
Dice Raw,
DJ Jazzy Jeff,
Peedi Crakk, P.O.R.N., and Truck North, as well as former member
Malik B. Musically,
Rising Down features the Roots delving into new musical territory incorporating a more electronic and synth-heavy feel into their sound. The album's first single is Rising Up featuring
Chrisette Michele and D.C. rapper
Wale.
Rising Down was released to critical acclaim, garnering an overall score of 80 on
Metacritic.
Members
The Roots' original lineup included Tariq "
Black Thought" Trotter (
MC) and Ahmir "
?uestlove" Thompson (
drums), who were classmates at the
Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. As they began to play at school and on the streets, they added a bassist named Josh "The Rubberband" Abrams, who went on to form the
jazz group The Josh Abrams Quartet. They later added another MC named
Malik Abdul Basit-Smart ("Malik B."), a new bassist
Leonard Nelson Hubbard ("Hub"), and a keyboardist named
Scott Storch, who eventually became one of the most prominent rap producers in the industry. Another MC, Kenyatta "Kid Crumbs" Warren, was a part of the group for their first album, Organix, but didn't appear on any later albums. Yet another MC,
Dice Raw, joined on for cameos in later albums. Scott Storch also left to pursue a producing career following the
Do You Want More?!!!??! album. The split, however, was on amicable terms: Storch continues to produce tracks for Roots albums to this day. The Roots filled his void with another keyboardist,
Kamal Gray, who is still a member.
A
beatboxer named
Rahzel also joined the group and contributed from
1995 -
1999. Alongside Rahzel was vocal turntablist
Scratch, who DJ'd for them during live concerts. He abruptly left in
2003. Malik B. left the group in 1999 due to drug problems but continued to record, making occasional cameos on future albums. A guitarist,
Ben Kenney, had a short stint with the group and contributed to their
Phrenology album, but left to join
Incubus as their bassist. A percussionist, F Knuckles, was added in
2002 and guitarist, Kirk Douglas (a.k.a. "Captain Kirk"), replaced Kenney. A vocalist,
Martin Luther, toured with The Roots in
2003 and
2004 and contributed to their
Tipping Point album. The group announced in
August 2007, to the dismay of fans, that longtime bassist, Leonard Hubbard, was leaving the group. "One of our partners is leaving us tonight, ladies and gentlemen, Leonard Hubbard" (Black Thought @ moe.down 8/31/07). The current members of The Roots are Black Thought (MC), ?uestlove (drums), Kamal (keyboard), F Knuckles (percussion), and Captain Kirk (guitar). Recently, they've toured with sousaphonist
Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson and Game Theory producer and current bassist
Owen Biddle.
All members have worked with
PETA to promote compassion for animals and the
vegetarian lifestyle.
Chronologically Numbered Tracks
The Roots albums starting from Organix have consistently to their most recent album released, Rising Down, featured the track listings on the back of their CDs and LPs in a continuous order.
Organix the Roots debut album lists tracks 1-17 followed by Do You Want More?!!!??! listing tracks 18-33 and the Roots third album, Illadelph Halflife, lists tracks 34-53.
The Roots fourth album Things Fall Apart lists trcks 54-70 and was the first to contain a hidden track. This hidden track is number 71, Act Fore...The End. Thus the tracks listed on the outside of Things Fall Apart number to 70, with track 71 being alluded to underneath the disc hub. This track is located at approximately 7:10 into track 70 Return to Innocence Lost.
A five track EP entitled The Legendary contains numbered tracks 72-76. It contains no hidden track.
The complete tracks 77-86 can only be found on the Roots Limited Edition 2 disc pressing of their first live album to date entitled
The Roots Come Alive. Disc 2 is no longer in print and contains tracks 81-86. Track 80 is a hidden track and appears on Disc 1 after You Got Me(lasting approximately until 8:50) and Encore (8:51-13:48) track 80 appears at approximately 14:24, it completes Disc 1.
The Roots 2002 album, Phrenology, lists tracks 87-100. It contains two hidden tracks. 101. Rhymes and Ammo which appears after 2 :20 soundless tracks are played. The disc then counts backwards with 101 beginning at -7:19. Track 102, Thirsty, appears at -2:46. Thirsty is the last track on Phrenology.
The Tipping Point lists tracks 103-112. Tracks 113 is a hidden track fading in at approximately 4:38.
Game Theory contains tracks 114-127. Track 127 Bread and Butter is only available on iTunes and the Japanese CD edition.
Rising Down was released on April 29, 2008 containing tracks 128-141. Track 142 is a hidden track. The Pow Wow 2.
Notes:
The two volumes of Homegrown! count from a negative number and reach 0. A CD entitled The Roots Best of Mixtape mixed by DJ J. Period doesn't follow the chronologically numbered tracks and is numbered 1-50. This album was a promotional mixtape put out to promote Game Theory in 2006.
Tracks that appear in the live performance on The Roots Come Alive that were from previous albums retain their original numbers. The earliest being track 10. Essaywhuman?!! (Originally on Organix, performed live) and most recent a live performance of Things Fall Apart's "You Don't See Us", number 69.
Touring and Other Work
The band tours extensively, and their live sets are frequently hailed as the best in the genre. Recently, the band played a concert in NYC's Radio City Music Hall with
Common,
Nas,
Talib Kweli and
Big Daddy Kane. They also backed
Jay-Z a third time, for his Reasonable Doubt Concert, a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the release of his first album.
The Roots have been featured in four movies:
Dave Chappelle's Block Party; both performing album songs and playing as a backing band for other artists,
Spike Lee's
Bamboozled, and
Marc Levin's
Brooklyn Babylon, in which
Black Thought plays the protagonist, Solomon, and former band member
Rahzel narrates, and
Chasing Liberty; starring Mandy Moore. Black Thought and ?uestlove were both featured in the movie "Brown Sugar," Black Thought also made an appearance in the film "Love Rome" as Tariq Trotter, and ?uestlove currently appears in the 2008 documentary movie about TBC Brass Band called
From the Mouthpiece on Back
, which lists The Roots as one of the executive producers of the movie.
The band guest performed on
August 25 and
August 26 with the
Dave Matthews Band during their 2007 summer tour. Members of
The Roots played in various forms as well as a whole band on
DMB's back to back concerts at
Alpine Valley Music Theatre in
East Troy,
Wisconsin.
The group made an appearance on
The Colbert Report on
April 15,
2008 when
Stephen Colbert spent a week in
Philadelphia prior to the
2008 Pennsylvania Democratic primary. During the appearance, they performed the intro song to the show, and closed the episode with a rendition of the
Star Spangled Banner.
Awards
- Grammy awards
- 1999: Won for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "You Got Me" (featuring Erykah Badu and Eve)
- 2002: Nominated for Best Rap Album for Phrenology
- 2004: Nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Star;" nominated for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "Don't Say Nuthin'."
- 2007: Nominated for Best Rap Album for Game Theory; nominated for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "Don't Feel Right."
- MTV Video Music Awards
- 2003: Nominated for MTV2 award for "The Seed 2.0"
- mtvU Woodie Awards
- 2004: Nominated for Road Woodie and Welcome Back Woodie
- BET Awards
- 2005: Nominated for Best Group
- NAACP Image Awards
- 2005: Nominated for Outstanding Duo or Group
- 2007: Won for Outstanding Duo or Group
- Named one of the "twenty greatest live acts in the world" by Rolling Stone in 2003
- Won a "Heroes Award" from the Philadelphia chapter of the Recording Academy in 2004
- First Hip-Hop group to perform at Lincoln Center in January, 2002
- 2007: Won for Max Stevenson International Hip-Hop Award for 'Game Theory' album
Discography
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Roots'.
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