The Roots

A rare hip-hop band and the longest continually active rap group, the Roots are also among the most progressive acts in contemporary music, combining hard-hitting rhymes, instrumentation, and sample-based production techniques throughout a vast discography of inventive studio albums while upholding an unchallenged standard of live performance. The Philadelphians, led by virtuosic drummer/producer Questlove and revered rapper Black Thought, seemed like a novelty when they broke through with their gold-selling sophomore album Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995). However, they soon became a hip-hop institution. They crashed the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with Things Fall Apart (1999), featuring the Grammy-winning "You Got Me." By the end of the next decade, they had additional Top Ten entries with The Tipping Point (2002), Game Theory (2006), and Rising Down (2008), among other conceptual studio efforts, and had been installed as the longstanding house band for late-night television host Jimmy Fallon. During the first several years of their TV gig, the Roots put together artful works such as Undun (2011) and ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014) while also co-headlining albums with John Legend, Betty Wright, and Elvis Costello. Years later, Questlove and Black Thought branched out with individual pursuits that included the former's award-winning work as a director and the latter's first solo projects. The Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live at Blue Note NYC (2025) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band's second full-length.

The Roots' focus on live music began back in 1987, when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer Questlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) became friends at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. Playing around school, on the sidewalk, and later at talent shows (with Questlove's drum kit backing Black Thought's rhymes), the pair began to earn money and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leonard Hubbard) and rapper Malik B. Moving from the street to local clubs, the Roots became a highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York. When they were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a concert in Germany, the Roots recorded an album to sell at shows; the result, Organix, was released in May 1993 on Remedy Records. With a music industry buzz surrounding their activities, the Roots entertained offers from several labels before signing with DGC that same year.

The Roots' first major-label album, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in January 1995. Forsaking the usual hip-hop protocol, the record was produced without any samples or previously recorded material. It peaked just outside the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 and made more tracks in alternative circles, partly due to the Roots playing the second stage at Lollapalooza that summer. The band also journeyed to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Two of the guests on the album who had toured around with the band, human beatbox Rahzel the Godfather of Noyze -- previously a performer with Grandmaster Flash and LL Cool J -- and Scott Storch (later replaced by Kamal Gray), became permanent members of the group.

Early in 1996, the Roots released "Clones," the trailer single for their second album. It hit the rap Top Five, and created a good buzz. That September, Illadelph Halflife appeared and made number 21 on the Billboard 200. Much like its predecessor, though, the Roots' second LP was a difficult listen. It made several very small concessions to mainstream rap -- the bandmembers sampled material that they had recorded earlier at jam sessions -- but failed to make a hit of their unique sound. Their third album, Things Fall Apart, was easily their biggest critical and commercial success. Released on MCA in February 1999, it entered the Billboard 200 at number four and went platinum, and "You Got Me" -- a collaboration with Erykah Badu -- peaked within the Top 40 and subsequently won a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Malik B. left the group around this time, but he would contribute to a couple studio albums the following decade.

The long-awaited Phrenology was released in November 2002 amid rumors of the Roots losing interest in their label arrangements with MCA. In 2004, the band remedied the situation by creating the Okayplayer company. Named after their website, Okayplayer included a record label and a production/promotion company. The same year, the band held a series of jam sessions to give their next album a looser feel. The results were edited down to ten tracks and released by Geffen in July 2004 as The Tipping Point, another number four hit on the Billboard 200. A 2004 concert from Manhattan's Webster Hall with special guests like Mobb Deep, Young Gunz, and Jean Grae was issued in February 2005 as The Roots Present in both CD and DVD formats. Two volumes of the rarities-collecting Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Roots appeared at the end of the year.

A subsequent deal with Def Jam fostered a series of riveting, often grim sets, beginning with Game Theory (August 2006) and Rising Down (April 2008), the band's third and fourth Top Ten albums. In 2009, the group expanded their reach as the exceptionally versatile house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new gig didn't slow their recording schedule. In 2010 alone, they released the sharp How I Got Over (June), as well as Wake Up! (September), where they backed John Legend on covers of socially relevant soul classics like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Wake Up Everybody" and Donny Hathaway's "Little Ghetto Boy." It earned Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. As they remained with Fallon, the Roots worked with Miami soul legend Betty Wright on November 2011's Betty Wright: The Movie, and followed it the next month with their 13th studio long-player, Undun, an ambitious concept album whose main character dies in the first track and then follows his life backward.

Work on the group's next studio LP was postponed as an unexpected duet album with Elvis Costello took priority for the group in 2013. Originally planned as a reinterpretation of Costello's songbook, the record Wise Up Ghost turned into a full-fledged collaboration and was greeted by positive reviews upon its September 2013 release on Blue Note. Within six months, the band joined Fallon in his new late-night slot, the high-profile Tonight Show program. Another concept album, the brief but deep ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, was released in May 2014. Black Thought released his first solo projects, the first two volumes in his Streams of Thought series, in 2018. Early members Malik B. and Hub died respectively in 2020 and 2021; Hub's cause of death was multiple myeloma. During the latter year, Questlove made his directorial debut with the Academy Award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Black Thought and Questlove continued with many assorted outside pursuits as the Roots remained with Fallon. In 2025, the Roots held a three-night, six-set residency at the Blue Note in New York. The gigs celebrated the 30th anniversary of Do You Want More?!!!??!, as documented by The Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live at Blue Note NYC, issued that November. ~ John Bush & Andy Kellman