The Roots Are For The Children. The Band Is Producing 2 Kids TV Shows.

The Roots are one of Hip-Hop’s busiest and most successful acts in the game today. Between being the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, their annual Roots Picnic concert series, releasing new music, and individual members’ solo pursuits, it’s remarkable that the Grammy-winning crew even has the time to take on their latest endeavors: developing children’s programming for online television.

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As reported by Deadline, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson will serve as executive producers on two Amazon-backed programs for kids. The first is an animated series called South Street Sounds, a Philadelphia-inspired show taking place in “the most musical of neighborhoods” and will feature music from The Roots. Following three friends – “creative-scatterbrain Zora, future-entrepreneur Nick, and disaster-averse Tyson” – the show will document their love for music and performance, with the hopes of igniting a similar passion in young viewers. As Trotter says, “Our love for music started as young kids, and we hope to inspire a generation of future artists, musicians and music fans through the stories we tell and the music they hear on these shows.”

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Amazon will also be partnering with Trotter and Thompson’s Passyunk Productions on a live-action program for children, though details are still pending. However, Thompson did put forth a statement, saying “As we venture into the world that is film and television production, we couldn’t think of a better partner than Amazon to help us develop these first two children’s projects,” which seems to suggest the Square Roots have more in store.

This won’t be The Roots’ first foray into children’s entertainment. In the past, the crew has appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba!, and frequently make use of kids’ classroom instruments on The Tonight Show – including a particularly memorable performance with Sesame Street characters.