The Roots
Artists :
Black Thought - ? Love - Hub - Malik B
Rahzel - Kamal

--- The Roots Biography :

It all began in 1987 when members B.R.O.THER ? (Real name : Ahmir Thompson) and Black Thought (Real name : Tariq Trotter) attended Philadelphia’s High School for creative arts and hooked up to create the sound that we all know today. Black thoughts lyrics gelled well with the hip hop influenced percussion of Ahmir and proof of their mind blowin’ combination came one day in 1992 while busking in a Philadelphia’s South street. Now in their 5th year they hit upon the idea of using any old garbage to create noise like buckets and pipes. Crowds formed and 2 weeks later they got an even bigger response when they brought their drums and Thought began rhyming. This led onto performances at basements and barbecues that eventually led them to begin playing at bigger venues in Philadelphia. This was where the hook ups with other members Hub (Leonard Nelson Hubbard, the group’s bassist) Malik B (Second emcee) and their new manager, the group was officially born. He took them to play in Europe to build a reputation and while they lived in London they released the rare mini album ‘From the ground up’ on Talkin’ Loud records and while performing in Germany they gained a recording contract with Geffen USA.

Before signing to Geffen the group also independently released their first official album ‘Organix’ which although got major props went practically unnoticed.
‘Do you want more ?!!!??!’ was the first album that brought peoples attention to the Roots in 1994, it was a collection of live beats with a jazzy/blues feel to the music, emcees Black Thought & Malik B displayed a Vocal dexterity to be reckoned with. The album wasn’t totally obsolete of samples its just the group knew how to merge them with the instruments so they were inseparable. Along with part time member Rahzel the Godfather of noise they displayed their little need for samplers and decks with his awesome Vocal scratching and sound effects. Also new member Kamal brought his own brand of mellowness on the keyboard. The album spawned the singles ‘Distortion to static’, ‘Proceed’ & ‘Silent treatment’ which all made noise but not enough for the recognition they deserved. What held the group back is that they were pigeon holed in the ‘Jazz/alternative’ category which in reality most hip hop heads avoid, the Roots were and are more than this so it was time for album 3 to change peoples perceptions.

Its now 1996 and the groups founder B.R.O.THER ? is now known as  ? Love (Qwest Love) their reputation as an excellent band live has spread worldwide and they release the great ‘Illadelph halflife volume 3’ LP. On this album the sound has mutated even further with a move away from their jazz sound to capture the hardcore hip hop audience with the ill-as-fuck first single ‘Clones’ which featured Dice Raw & M.A.R.S. The sound still encompasses the live element but they draw more inspirations from the samples they use. This album drew more attention and even more MTV airplay with tracks such as ‘Concerto of the desperado’ and ‘What they do’ which almost became a crossover hit with its ‘look-at-the-rap-video’ promo clip.

A further 2 years on in 1998 just as the ‘Illadelph’ promotion began to fizzle out the group got ready for their new album ‘Things fall apart’ but just as they began to turn the wheels of getting the album out Geffen dropped all their rap acts from their roster. The group was quickly picked up by MCA but this led to a delay in new material. ‘Don’t see us’ was one of the first tracks to leak making anticipation high for the new album.
As mentioned before the Roots live show is like nothing else, they play their songs differently each time, they used their own interpretations of classic and current day hip hop tracks by other artists creating an energy and buzz like no other act under the hip hop hemisphere.
During the Roots 7 year long career they’ve worked with many hip hop and rnb artists diverse as Eric Benet (I can’t stress how beautiful ‘Why’ is), Bahamadia, Jazzyfatnastees D’angelo, Q-Tip, Nonchalant, Big Pun, and many of the contemporary jazz cats out there.

They’ve also worked with Chi town emcee Common on many projects including ‘UNIverse at war’, ‘Stolen Moments 2’ and the latest coupling sees them updating commons ‘I used to love h.e.r.’ on ‘Act too..the love of my life’ on their latest album. Now Common is signed to Sony they will be also executive producing his new album because he believes in them that much.

Its 1999 and on February 23rd the Roots will unleash ‘Things fall apart’ its been a 3 year wait but they haven’t disappointed. The group improves with each new release and this album is no exception with its lead single ‘Adrenaline’ and radio friendly offering ‘You got me’ with Erykah Badu. The groups success has also secured a solo deal for Rahzel who at time of writing had unleashed the very dope ‘All I know’.
Things fall apart but in the Roots case they just grow for them and hip hop in its essence and real.

Updates since this profile was written :

 ’Things Fall Apart’ was the most sucessful Roots album commercially so far spawning the singles ’You Got Me’ and ’The Next Movement’ plus a good ol’ Grammy.
 They released ’The Legendary’ EP, and a live album at the end of 1999. As well as touring and all these releases the group managed to release a slew of high quality soundtrack appearences from movies such as ’The Best Man’ and ’Bait’
  ?uest Love helped produce albums by D’Angelo and Jill Scott and a track from Guru’s latest album ’Jazzmatazz III’.
 Black Thought appears in the latest Spike Lee movie ’Bamboozled’
 Dice Raw released his first solo 12" and is set to release his solo LP later in 2000

--- The Roots Discography :

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