the roots Archives

?uestlove Explains Being A Music Snob, Putting Off Q-Tip & Others With Nerdery (Video)

Is Head an easy and endearing way of calling ourselves "music snobs"? Vanity Fair has a Music Snob series, and stops in with Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson—easily known as The Roots band-leader and drummer, but at a closer look, a composer who's remixed Marvin Gaye deep cuts, made a Jazz album... Read more

October 7, 2013 Fresh, Video

Thundercat & The Roots – Heartbreaks + Setbacks Performance (Video)

One of the best parts about having The Roots on "Late Night" with Jimmy Fallon is the exposure to new music. Heads can often hope that whether Mac Miller's artistic evolution, De La Soul deep cuts, or Big K.R.I.T's breakthrough, that bedrooms and living-rooms everywhere are getting exposed to better... Read more

October 1, 2013 Fresh, Throwback, Video

Elvis Costello & The Roots Perform Wise Up Ghost (Video)

Fresh off of the Blue Note Records release of the album sharing the name, Elvis Costello & The Roots' perform "Wise Up Ghost" at one of ?uestlove's favorite hangouts/DJ venues: Brooklyn Bowl. The stage lighting captures the themes of the song perfectly. Related: Elvis Costello & The Roots – Walk... Read more

September 18, 2013 Fresh, Video

Kanye West Performs “Bound 2” With The Roots & Charlie Wilson (Video)

In trademark Kanye West fashion, the impresario stopped by NBC Studios last night for an impromptu appearance on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon." There, he linked up with former Larry Gold Studios homies and OkayPlayer glory-days conglomerates The Roots to perform my personal favorite song from Yeezus (for the very... Read more

September 10, 2013 Fresh, Video

Elvis Costello & The Roots – Wise Up Ghost (Album Stream)

I've been a big fan of Elvis Costello since before I even heard The Roots. My uncle's cassette collection put me onto the cool melodies and whimsical songwriting of the Brit Punk/New Wave alum. When it was first announced that these two veteran acts, I was excited (but unsure) of... Read more

September 9, 2013 Fresh

Malik B & Mr. Green – Definition

One of my all-time pre-Game Theory Roots tracks is "The Water." The way Black Thought spoke about his love candidly for Malik B was raw, and to any of us that have close ones who battle demons, it simply resonated. Still a close collaborator with The Roots, Malik is working... Read more

August 31, 2013 Audio, Fresh

Eve Recalls Time With The Ruff Ryders & Dr. Dre With Peter Rosenberg (Video)

Philly's Eve has an interesting story. From the days of the Bullworth soundtrack, her career began with Dr. Dre on then-fledgling Aftermath Entertainment (I always thought that '97-'99 roster was the best). Then, Eve made history with DMX, Swizz Beatz and the Ruff Ryders, keeping her success in the Interscope... Read more

August 7, 2013 Fresh, Video

2 Chainz Performs Feds Watching With The Roots (Video)

Just weeks after ?uestlove's manager's memoir excerpts criticized his label-mate 2 Chainz, The Roots and Tity Boi shared the stage. Pharrell was not around, but whether you're a fan of Game Theory or Based On A T.R.U. Story, "Feds Watching" is one of the smoothest songs of 2013. The B.O.A.T.S.... Read more

August 6, 2013 Fresh, Video

Goodie Mob – Special Education ft The Roots (Live Video)

I don't know about you, but I'm getting really excited about Age Against The Machine. Given Goodie Mob's classic album beginnings (Soul Food), we can all agree that personnel moves prevented the Dungeon Family O.G.'s from ever living up to their truest potential. "Special Education" sounds like a true time... Read more

August 2, 2013 Fresh, Video

Elvis Costello & The Roots – Walk Us Uptown (Video)

It's been a big day for videos over at Def Jam. First, Kanye West hits us with the interactive video to "Black Skinhead," now The Roots and Elvis Costello come with their first glimpse from Wise Up Ghost. "Walk Us Uptown" is a lyric video that premiered at Pitchfork today,... Read more

July 22, 2013 Fresh, Video

Mac Miller Performs with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Mac Miller rocked with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out his performance of S.D.S. (and do not sleep on that Watching Movies with the Sound Off album...). Related: Mac Miller – Suplexes Inside of Complexes & Duplexes ft Jay Electronica (Audio)... Read more

June 24, 2013 Video

Ice Cube Performs It Was a Good Day with The Roots (Video)

Keeping it on the OG West Coast tip, Ice Cube dropped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and performed his classic, It Was a Good Day, with The Legendary Roots Crew (and you know they smashed it...). Check out the video below and vibe out to how they flipped it.... Read more

June 19, 2013 Video

?uestlove Speaks at the Red Bull Lecture Series (Video)

This Red Bull Lecture series has been dope so far. This week's installment with ?uestlove makes it even better. ?uest drops a wealth of knowledge about The Legendary Roots Crew, working on Fallon and music, generally...and, he even gets on the drums. This is one of the most intellectual discussions... Read more

June 12, 2013 Video

De La Soul Performs Jenifa Taught Me With The Roots (Video)

2 of the greatest groups in hip-hop history hit the stage together on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Check out the video of De La Soul and The Roots crushing Jenifa Taught Me. Related: A Playlist Celebrating the Legendary Career of De La Soul (Audio)... Read more

May 18, 2013 Video

Talib Kweli Performs Come Here with Bilal & The Roots (Video)

Talib Kweli performed his Bilal-assisted single, Come Here, with The Roots last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the video. Related: Talib Kweli – High Life ft Rubix Cube & Bajah (Video)... Read more

April 25, 2013 Video

Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Killah Priest & Adrian Younge perform I Declare War on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Killah Priest and Adrian Younge perform with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the video of I Declare War. Related: Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge – Twelve Reasons to Die (Full Album Stream)... Read more

April 9, 2013 Video

Wale Performs Bad on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Wale performed his new single "Bad" with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the video. Related: Wale – Bad ft Tiara Thomas (Video)... Read more

March 26, 2013 Video

Justin Timberlake Performs the History of Rap Pt. 4 and More on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Justin Timberlake capped off his week of performances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by going back to the well. He performed some of his older joints like Like I Love You and Cry Me a River and did a fourth installment of the History of Rap with Jimmy Fallon... Read more

March 16, 2013 Video

Justin Timberlake performs Let the Groove Get In with The Roots (Video)

Justin Timberlake stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night and performed a funky new song with The Roots (and a whole bunch of other people). The breakdown at the end of this joint is off the chain. Check out Let the Groove Get In. Related: Justin Timberlake –... Read more

March 14, 2013 Video

Method Man & The Roots Perform Protect Ya Neck (Video)

Method Man and The Roots combined forces for a dope rendition of Protect Ya Neck on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the video. Related: Method Man interview with Montreality (Video)... Read more

February 20, 2013 Video

AFH: For the Love of Hip-Hop (Playlist)

We do it all for the love, y'all...the love of hip-hop. On this Valentine's Day, here's a playlist celebrating the many expressions of love in hip-hop. You'll hear music from Nas, OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Method Man, Slum Village, Heavy D, Mos Def, UGK and more. Check... Read more

February 14, 2013 Audio, Playlists

T.I. performs Ball on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

T.I. puts it down with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out his performance of Ball. Related: T.I. – Hello ft Cee-Lo (Prod. The Neptunes)... Read more

January 5, 2013 Video

Q-Tip, Talib Kweli and The Roots Perform Electric Relaxation (Video)

Q-Tip and Talib Kweli performing "Electric Relaxation" with The Roots?! It gets no better. Check out the video. Related: Bizarre Tribe - A Quest to the Pharcyde: a mixtape of blends of music from A Tribe Called Quest & The Pharcyde (Mixtape)... Read more

January 3, 2013 Video

Joey Bada$$ performs Waves with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Joey Bada$$ is definitely on the come up. Last night, he made his network TV debut performing Waves with The Legendary Roots Crew on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Just listen to how the sample from that 90's-influenced track opens up when The Roots lay into it. It literally sounds... Read more

November 3, 2012 Video

Wu-Tang Clan & The Roots perform Protect Ya Neck (Video)

Here's some more goodness from Wu-Tang Clan's performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Black Thought joins them for a blistering performance of Protect Ya Neck, accompanied by the rest of The Legendary Roots Crew. Check out the video. Related: Wu-Tang Clan perform Six Directions of Boxing with The Roots... Read more

October 27, 2012 Video

Wu-Tang Clan perform Six Directions of Boxing with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Wu-Tang Clan performing with The Roots??? That's right...Check out RZA, Ghostface, Masta Killa, Cappadonna, U-God and GZA performing Six Directions of Boxing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The Man With the Iron Fists Soundtrack is in stores now. Related: The Man with the Iron Fists Soundtrack (Full Album Stream)... Read more

October 23, 2012 Video

Frank Ocean performs Bad Religion with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Video)

Frank Ocean performed his new song Bad Religion with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. He also announced his album channel ORANGE was available on iTunes (a week earlier than anticipated). Check out the video below and you can buy the album here. Related: Frank Ocean... Read more

July 10, 2012 Video

Rakim interview with OkayPlayer and performance in NYC at Joe’s Pub (Video)

Here's a dope interview of Rakim by OkayPlayer. It also features footage of him performing with The Roots. You can check out the interview and footage of Rakim performing recently in NYC at Joe's Pub below. Related: Playlist celebrating the music of Rakim (Audio)... Read more

June 29, 2012 Food for Thought, Video

Here’s a back in the day (mostly) video playlist to get you through the day. You’ll hear music from Redman, Grand Puba, The Roots, Chubb Rock, Mobb Deep, Heavy D, The Beatnuts and more (Video Playlist)

Just press play, sit back and take a journey back to the 90's. Related: Back in the Day 80's Hip-Hop Playlist (Audio)... Read more

June 20, 2012 Playlists, Throwback, Video

The Roots Picnic Video Recap (Video)

Here's a video recap of the recent Roots picnic. It features footage of Yasiin Bey (pka Mos Def), De La Soul, Wale, Rakim, The Roots and more. Check it out below. Related: De La Soul performs with The Roots at their picnic (Video)... Read more

June 11, 2012 Video

D’Angelo performs She Came Into the Bathroom Window with The Roots (Video)

The Roots recently performed at Bonnaroo and brought out D'Angelo as a surprise guest. Check out his first stateside performance in over a decade below. Related: D'Angelo - The GQ Interview... Read more

June 10, 2012 Video

De La Soul performs with The Legendary Roots Crew at The Roots Picnic (Video)

Here's some more footage from The Roots' Picnic. This time De La Soul shares the stage with the band. Check out their performances of Buddy, Ego Trippin' Pt. 2 with Black Thought and A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturday." Related: Yasiin Bey performs with The Legendary Roots Crew at The... Read more

June 3, 2012 Video

Big K.R.I.T. performs I Got This on The Jimmy Fallon Show with The Legendary Roots Crew (Video)

It's so ill hearing Big K.R.I.T. accompanied by a tuba. Check out K.R.I.T.'s performance of I Got This on The Jimmy Fallon show. And, of course, he's backed by The Legendary Roots Crew. Here's the video. Related: The Roots & Big K.R.I.T. perform Make My (Video)... Read more

May 12, 2012 Video

Beastie Boys’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Tribute (Video)

Joining legends like Run-DMC and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, The Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last night. Kid Rock, The Roots and Travie McCoy from Gym Class Heroes ripped through a medley of Beastie classics, in tribute to the band. Check... Read more

April 15, 2012 Video

Rap music started with 2 turntables and a microphone, no doubt, but there’s something special when a dope MC’s voice combines with other instruments. Here’s a playlist of 13 songs that feature some if not all live instrumentation on the track–maybe drums, a bass line, horns or all the above (Playlist)

You'll hear music from DJ Quik, Eazy-E, Elzhi, Big KRIT, The Roots, De La Soul, Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Grand Puba, The Pharcyde and 2Pac. You can listen to the whole thing below. Sit back and experience hip-hop Live & Direct.... Read more

April 7, 2012 Audio, Playlists

Here’s a Valentine’s Day Playlist for Lover’s of Hip-Hop (Audio)

Like most relationships, the one between Hip-Hop & Love is complicated. Here's a playlist showing its many sides. You'll find music from Common, Mos Def, Dead Prez, The Roots, OutKast, Snoop Dogg, Murs, A Tribe Called Quest, Pharoahe Monch, Slum Village, Heavy D, Method Man, Biggie and many more. Some... Read more

February 14, 2012 Audio, Playlists

The Roots – Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around (Video)

The Roots are participating in a new project called Soundtrack For a Revolution that features today's artists singing Civil Rights-era freedom songs. Here's a video of The Roots performing Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.... Read more

February 4, 2012 Video

Here’s an MLK day playlist featuring music from Common, Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Nas and more (Playlist)

Happy MLK day. MUCH has changed since the 60's when Dr. King led a peaceful revolution for justice and equality, but the beautiful struggle continues. We are in complex times. The nation has a black president, a reality that likely would not have materialized had it not been for the... Read more

January 16, 2012 Audio, Food for Thought, Playlists

Black Star – Little Brother + You Already Knew Performances (Video)

Here are a couple of very dope performances of new music by Black Star with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check out their songs Little Brother and You Already Knew. Little Brother You Already Knew... Read more

January 4, 2012 Video

Check out our 175+ song playlist of the best hip-hop 2011 had to offer (in chronological order). You’ll hear music from Kendrick Lamar, DJ Quik, Pete Rock and Smiff N Wessun, XV, Action Bronson, Common, Curren$y, The Roots, Saigon, Bumpy Knuckles, Big K.R.I.T., Bun B, Asher Roth, Phonte, Reks, Raekwon, Stalley, Pusha T, Wale, Zion I, Smoke DZA, Busta Rhymes, J. Cole, Jean Grae, Statik Selektah, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Yelawolf, Pharoahe Monch and far too many other great artists to name.

The music speaks for itself. Press play and let it ride or click here to see the playlist and pick your own order. Either way, enjoy the good notes of 2011.... Read more

December 31, 2011 Audio, Food for Thought, Playlists, Video

Ambrosia For Heads’ 2011 Best Hip-Hop Albums/Mixtapes of the Year: Here’s a look at our picks for the best of the best in 2011. You’ll find words on each as well as samples of the music. Tell us your picks for 2011.

It's that time of year again, when you're hit with a ton of year end, best of lists. We're going to keep it simple. We have 2 lists: best hip-hop albums/mixtapes of the year and songs of the year. First up, here are our picks for the best hip-hop albums/mixtapes... Read more

December 28, 2011 Audio, Food for Thought, Mixes, Video

The Roots Perform My ft Big K.R.I.T. (Video)

The Roots performed with Big K.R.I.T. last night at New York City's Highline Ballroom. Check it out below. Also, click here to check out our playlist of music from The Roots spanning the last 2 decades. You can buy undun here. Make My ft Big K.R.I.T. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Ir05jYMD7Y... Read more

December 7, 2011 Video

Here’s a (mostly) video playlist celebrating the nearly 20-year career of The Legendary Roots Crew

The Legendary Roots Crew's new album, undun, drops on 12/6. Although they have been around for nearly 20 years, it still seems very likely their best material is still ahead of them...and that's saying a lot because their past material is DAMN GOOD. In anticipation of the new album, here's... Read more

December 3, 2011 Playlists, Video

Can’t wait to hear that new Roots undun album? Check out a sneak preview of the album below.

Can't wait to hear that new Roots undun album? Say no more. Click here to hear a stream of the full album. Click here to see all 4 videos from the album. ... Read more

November 29, 2011 Audio

The Roots – One Time ft Phonte & Dice Raw

New music from The Roots with Phonte?? Nuff said. Check out One Time (stream only). undun drops on 12/6.... Read more

November 28, 2011 Audio

The Roots – The Undun Videos (Parts 1-4)

Over the last few weeks, The Roots have been dropping videos as a lead up to the release of their album, undun, on December 6. This week, they've released Sleep, which is part 4 of 4 videos. Like the album, the videos tell the story of Redford Stephens, a fictional... Read more

November 22, 2011 Playlists, Video

The Roots – Stomp ft Greg Porn (Video)

Here's part 3 of 4 videos from The Roots' upcoming undun album. It continues the story of the album's lead character, Redford Stephens (see below for the description). This one is shorter and seems more like set up for the finale. Check out Stomp featuring Greg Porn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxaeiAblJuA&feature=player_embedded Here are... Read more

November 15, 2011 Video

The Roots – Tip the Scale (Video)

Here's a new song and video from The Roots upcoming undun album. The video is part 2 of 4 depicting the story of the album's subject, a character named Redford Stephens, who dies an unfortunate death at the age of 25 (click here for part 1). The album is sounding... Read more

November 8, 2011 Video

The Roots – Make My (Video)

Here's a really intense video from The Roots. It's for their song Make My and depicts a violent and disturbing exchange. Make My is their collabo with Big K.R.I.T., but K.R.I.T.'s verse is not featured in the video. The Roots' upcoming undun album is a concept album which is “an... Read more

November 4, 2011 Video

Rakim Speaks: The Complex Interview

Rakim interviews are few and far between these days. Complex recently got a good one. He discusses working on new material, other rappers whose work he respects, his recent nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the 25th anniversary of the release of Paid in Full and more. ... Read more

November 2, 2011 Food for Thought