Roots, The

THE ROOTS

Formed: 1987, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Members: ?uestlove, drums (Ahmir Khalib Thompson, born 20 January 1971); Black Thought, vocals (Tariq Trotter, born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3 October 1973); Hub, bass (Leonard Hubbard); Malik B., vocals (Malik AbdulBasit); Ben Kenney, guitar; Kamal, keyboard; Scratch, human beatbox. Former members: Josh Abrams, bass; Scott Storch, keyboards; Rahzel, the Godfather of Noyze, beatbox (Rahzel M. Brown).

Genre: Hip-Hop

Best-selling album since 1990: things fall apart (1999)

Hit songs since 1990: "What They Do," "You Got Me"

With a bohemian image, experimental attitude, and jazz-influenced sound, the Roots are standard bearers for the neo-soul and alternative rap genres, although they tend to reject such labels. They are also considered pioneers in the use of live instrumentation in hip-hop.

The Roots' origins can be traced to the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts, where drummer ?uestlove and vocalist Black Thought met as students in 1987. After gathering other like-minded instrumentalists, they formed a group called the Square Roots, and began to perform around the city.

By the time their first album, Organix, was released in 1993, they had shortened their name to the Roots and developed a reputation for intense and varied live shows, something of a rarity in hip-hop at that time. It was this reputation, and the strength of the first album, that led to their major-label debut, do you want more?!!!??!, in 1995. The album was embraced by many listeners who were suspicious of the turn that mainstream hip-hop had taken toward materialism and violence. The Roots, by contrast, presented a more intellectual approach to both music and lyrics, though they carefully avoided both cliché and pretentiousness. They soon began to amass an evolving coterie of side musicians, including keyboardist/producer Scott Storch and human beatbox (one who uses one's voice to create percussion sound) Rahzel, the Godfather of Noyze.

illadelph halflife was released in 1997 and cemented the band's appeal to a broad cross section of the hip-hop audience. The devotion of their fan base only increased with the establishment of the Roots' website, www.okay-player.com, one of the first attempts by a hip-hop group to use the Internet to establish a direct relationship with those who enjoyed their music. In fact, those who used the website soon began referring to themselves as "okay-players" and became a distinct social group within the hip-hop community.

In 1999 the Roots released their biggest-selling album, things fall apart. The title was intended to compare the hip-hop world to colonial Nigeria as portrayed in Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel of the same name. True to its title, the album takes a poignant, nostalgic look at an earlier
era of hip-hop, yearning for lost innocence and seeking redemption through music and romantic love. Their unabashed tribute to love—the single "You Got Me"—won them a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Later that year, the Roots became one of the few hip-hop groups to release a live album. Its title, The Roots Come Alive, is a reference to Frampton Comes Alive (1976) by the rock guitarist Peter Frampton—one of the best-selling pop albums in history. The apparently ironic reference demonstrates both the breadth of the Roots' listening habits as well as their ambivalent attitude toward commercial success.

After three years of silence, the Roots released Phrenology in 2002. A challenging work that contains echoes of hardcore punk rock and Nigerian Afrobeat, Phrenology was eagerly embraced by the Roots' fans.

Intelligent, forward-looking, and thoroughly grounded in the diversity of the African-American musical tradition, the Roots have shown that an audience exists for challenging, live hip-hop.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Organix (Remedy, 1993); do you want more?!!!??! (Geffen, 1995); illadelph halflife (Geffen, 1997); things fall apart (MCA, 1999); The Roots Come Alive (MCA, 1999); Phrenology (MCA, 2002).

joe schloss