The Roots

The Roots - Rising Down (Def Jam, 2008) 8 out of 10 This band deals, as participant-observers, in turbulence. "The Pow Wow" opens the scene in 1994; we get a glimpse of a band conference call, discussing some shit that went down at a Geffen meeting, pre-major-debut, and quickly shit starts to go down at this meeting, at least one man screaming. Not a shocking consequence of a conversation featuring this sentence: "The Roots' product is not just the Roots' product anymore... MORE

ALL POINTS WEST: Day 2:
If Day 1 ran like butter- easy access to the ferry- easy waltz into the park, Day 2 ran unfortunately more like peanut butter. Two hour lines to get on the ferry; a line 200 people long for VIP entrance and a big wall of people just standing and sweating at General Admission. Chock-a-block crowds. Everywhere. Sure, the park had sold out Day Two, 30,000 people strong, but the infrastructure and organization was by no means prepared for such an ambu... MORE

In an interview with NyMag, ?uestlove of The Roots revealed that he and Dave Chappelle have discussed a potential sequel to Block Party. “He wants to redo Block Party,” ?uestlove told us when we asked after Dave Chappelle. “I saw Dave the night of Erykah [Badu]’s birthday party in Dallas.” And where would a second installation of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party occur? L.A.? Illadelph? “Over in Dubai,” said ?uestlove. “Except he wants to spice it up a bit and have us perform... MORE

?uestlove of The Roots has teamed up with Nike to introduce the Air ?uesto 1, his very own shoe. The shoes will come in a sealed box as part of a contest. Why are the shoes sealed in a box you ask? Because twenty five pairs of the shoes will be golden (like the golden ticket in Willy Wonka), and the golden shoe winners will get a special prize. So whats the prize? Questlove wouldn't spill the beans in his blog post on Okayplayer. "i cant make the "official" announceme... MORE

The Roots - Philly legends, Hip-Hop veterans, and one of my favorite musical outfits – have recently released their 10th LP, Rising Down. As is typical with a Roots release, and due in large part to their self-financed web community Okayplayer.com, there has been much internet buzz (and some snark) about the new record. And while the boards at Okayplayer are not always a reliable source, the album is also posting good numbers with all of the journalist and music reviewer t... MORE

The good folks at Okayplayer TV put up this great footage of The Roots at JazzFest. Grainy fan-made performance videos have been available in the past, but these vids contain exclusive interviews with ?uestlove and Black Thought.                  
OkayplayerTV - The Roots @ UCLA from Okayplayer on Vimeo.   "Rising Up" performance...                  
OkayplayerTV: The Roots "Rising Up" at UCLA from Okayplayer on Vimeo. "Long Time" performance       ... MORE

This show opened up with the Roots since the headliner of the night was Erykah Badu.  Unfortunately I didn't get to see her and I hope that doesn't taint this review.  I was able to take a few snaps of the show even though I was warned many times that there were to be no photos allowed.  Fortunately our seats weren't ridiculously out there in the theatre and I was able to get some decent photos.  The Roots went on mighty early with an onstage time of 7:30.  I could still ... MORE

Here's "Rising Up" featuring Chrissett Michelle and Wale. This clip was directed by Rik Cordero who is doing a helluva job on all his projects recently. His work with Snoop's "Neva Have To Worry' was great. Next up is Alicia Keys with "Teenage Love Affair".... The video takes the theme from Spike Lee's old school film "School Daze"

Questlove and The Roots crew are still struggling to find their place on a label accustomed to putting out typical hip hop records. In an interview with Billboard, Quest detailed the ongoing troubles and disconnect between The Roots and Def Jam in relation to their new album "Rising Down". "He [Def Jam head L.A. Reid] has no idea that 'Birthday Girl' isn't even on the album," Thompson told Billboard. "They don't know we shot the 'Rising Down' video. They just know they ... MORE

I spotted this over on Jay Smooth's Blog and had to share it with the moggers. The Roots & Tribe spitting on a public access show called "Lorna's Corner". In the early 90s I was exclusively into westcoast hip hop, so although the vid is 14 years old it's new to me.

DJ Enuff sat down with Black Thought and Qustlove for an in depth chat about the state of the group, their relationship with Def Jam, and where the record industry is headed. One thing I found interesting about the interview, was the discussion on hip hop culture in Europe. Enuff and The Roots say the fans still have the ideals that Americans held in 1992, which is a time period everyone views fondly. People still took lyrics seriously, it was less about commercial appeal... MORE