Saturday 21 January 2012

The Roots

The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

They are known for a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which includes live instrumentals. Since their first independent album release, the band has released 10 studio albums, two EPs, two collaboration albums and have collaborated with a wide range of artists from different genres.

Organix was the band first album, released and sold independently. It generated enough industry buzz for offers from music labels, and the band signed to DGC. The Roots’ first album for DGC, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in 1995. It was a moderate hit among alternative music fans due in part to the group’s appearance at Lollapalooza. The band performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival that year. Touring guests, beatboxer Rahzel and producer Scott Storch, joined The Roots.

The group released Things Fall Apart in 1999 (named after Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, which in turn was named after a line from “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats). Several members, including long time member Malik B., left the group. In December 2001, The Roots backed Jay-Z for his MTV Unplugged concert. With heightened popularity came mounting pressure. The Roots released Phrenology (named after the pseudoscience of phrenology) in 2002.

The band tours extensively, and their live sets are frequently hailed as the best in the genre. The Roots host an annual all day music festival in Philadelphia, PA every June.

Celebrity Saturday (The Roots)

The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.