A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
The Roots (1987-Present): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musicians, composers, arrangers, songwriters. lyricists, ensemble leaders, producers, rappers, and teachers
One of the most prolific rap groups, the Roots
were also among the most progressive acts in contemporary music, from
their 1993 debut through their conceptual 2010s releases. Despite the
seemingly archaic practice of functioning as a rap band with several
instrumentalists -- from 2007 onward, their lineup even featured a
sousaphonist -- they were ceaselessly creative, whether with their own
material, or through their varied assortment of collaborations. They
went platinum and gold with successive studio releases and won a handful
of Grammy awards. After they gained a nightly nationwide audience
through a close partnership with television host Jimmy Fallon, they continued to challenge listeners with works free of genre restrictions.
The Roots' focus on live music began back in 1987, when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer ?uestlove (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 ?uestlove's drum kit backing Black Thought's rhymes), the pair began to earn money and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leon 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 usual hip-hop protocol, the
album 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, February 1999's Things Fall Apart,
was easily their biggest critical and commercial success. Released on
MCA, It 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.
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 as The Tipping Point, supported by Geffen, in July of 2004. A 2004 concert from Manhattan's Webster Hall with special guests like Mobb Deep, Young Gunz, and Jean Grae was released 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). In 2009, the group expanded its 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 album, 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 album 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 album 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 Jimmy 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.
The Roots, American jazz/hip-hop jam band that was perhaps best known as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009–14) and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014– ). The founding members were Black Thought (Tariq Trotter; b. October 3, 1971, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) and drummer Questlove (or ?uestlove; Ahmir Khalib Thompson; b. January 20, 1971, Philadelphia).
The Roots, 2013. DC Jazz Festival and Events DC/PRNewsFoto/AP Images
The group was created in 1987 by Black Thought and Questlove—the
only members who remained part of the band throughout its history—when
they met as students at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative
and Performing Arts. Originally calling themselves the Square Roots,
they began performing on Philadelphia street corners. With the addition
of rapper Malik B (Malik Abdul Basit) and bassist Hub (Leonard Hubbard), they began making a name for themselves in clubs in Philadelphia and New York City. The debut album of the Roots, Organix
(1993), which included keyboardist Scott Storch in the lineup, was
released in conjunction with a concert in Germany. That album, together
with the band’s growing reputation, brought offers from major labels,
and the group signed with DGC Records. The first release on that label, Do You Want More?!!!??!
(1994), included contributions by human beatbox Rahzel (Rahzel Brown)
and was notable in that samples of music from other recordings, a
mainstay of the art form, were played live by the musicians. The 1999
offering, Things Fall Apart, was
regarded as the band’s breakthrough album and won both critical praise
and commercial success. A single from the album, “You Got Me,” a
collaboration with vocalist Erykah Badu, won the Grammy Award in 2000 for best rap performance by a duo or group. The Roots, with a fluid lineup, continued touring, recording, and collaborating with other artists, releasing Phrenology (2002), The Tipping Point (2004), Game Theory (2006), and Rising Down (2008). In addition, the Roots backed rap star Jay Z in 2001 on the concert TV show MTV Unplugged (also released as the album Jay-Z Unplugged). In 2008 comedian Jimmy Fallon
approached the Roots to serve as his backing band when he became a
late-night talk-show host, maintaining that it was the only group that
could provide excellent and appropriate backup music for vocalists in
any genre.
The choice sent shock waves in several directions. Devotees of the
Roots felt that the format was too confining and demeaning for a band
generally regarded as extraordinary. Network executives feared that a
band known for cogent
social commentary and for charting its own course might alienate
advertisers and audience members. In the end the Roots proved to be an
asset to the talk show,
which in turn widened the audience for the band, which was able to
showcase talents, including comedic, that had not previously been
exhibited. In 2014 Fallon left the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to host The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014– ), where the Roots continued as the house band. In addition, the Roots recorded the albums How I Got Over (2010) and Undun (2011) as well as collaborations with soul artist John Legend (Wake Up!, 2010), rhythm and blues singer Betty Wright (Betty Wright: The Movie, 2011), and rock musician Elvis Costello (Wise Up Ghost, 2013). In 2011 Wake Up! was given the Grammy Award for best R&B album, and the single “Hang On in There” took the Grammy for best traditional R&B vocal performance. In 2014 the the Roots released its 11th studio album, … And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, a conceptual collection of densely layered music intended as a meditation on community violence.Patricia Bauer
Basking in long-overdue accolades, the voice of The Roots is ready to share his story
by Rodney Carmichael
Black Thought rarely unmasks.
Not even in our
in-depth interview, which lasted more than an hour, did he remove the
shades that enable him to observe the world — and reflect a bit of its
pain – while concealing his own. Yet the story he shared of personal
trauma and transcendence reveals so much more. His moniker,
Black Thought, has always been a double-entendre that felt like it
belonged to all of us for the way it communicates a collective angst and
rage, darkness and genius. For the South Philly-bred co-founder of The
Roots, born Tariq Trotter, that nuance is equally reflected in his life
and rhymes. It's lent him a depth and duality rare in this age. To find
his equal, one almost must look beyond the confines of rap. Onstage at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center in April at a dramatic stage reading of Ta-Nehisi Coates' book Between the World and Me, Black Thought delivered a gripping remix of his Harvard University freestyle at the climactic high point of the performance:
Black as oblivion Black as obsidian Black as the sky at midnight ante meridian I am black as a portrait with Diddy, 2Pac and Biggie in Black as the influence on the culture we living in
When
Coates took the stage near the program's conclusion, the celebrated
chronicler of contemporary black American life paused first to pay
respect to his literary peer. Looking over at the bearded and brimmed
Black Thought, Coates nodded and told the crowd, "I wish I wrote them
Thought verses. I'd trade this whole book for that, man."
Stream The Album
It was a huge accolade from one clear-eyed realist to another.
Black Thought's been basking in overdue props lately. The viral Hot 97 freestyle
that sent the Internet into a tizzy six months ago made him something
of an anomaly — a hip-hop vet, 30 years into his career, finally
recognized for being at the top of his game.
Now, with the release of his first side project, Streams of Thought Vol. 1
(produced by 9th Wonder and The Soul Council), he's further emerging
from the shadows. It's a new reckoning for an artful dodger who's always
excelled at drawing complex illustrations while disappearing into his
own canvas, but he stops short of calling Streams of Thought a
solo project. For Black Thought, the appeal of a collaborative series
featuring a rotating cast of producers is less about hogging the
spotlight than delivering stream-of-consciousness flows without the
meticulous plotting associated with The Roots' high-concept approach.
But
there's a bigger reveal behind Black Thought's album release, and it
drove our conversation, which took place in Manhattan in April. By 16,
he'd lost both parents and found his life's calling. It became his
saving grace. At 46, he's beginning to unmask in music and life. And it
feels like the self-professed introvert is honing in on another growth
spurt, 30 years later. There's a line from Between the World and Me
in which Coates writes to his son, "Part of me thinks that your very
vulnerability brings you closer to the meaning of life." After a career
spent processing all our angst and pain, Black Thought is finding
comfort with baring open to the world his whole soul.
Interview Highlights
Black Thought on Ta-Nehisi Coates saying he'd trade Between the World and Me for Black Thought's verses
For
me it lent a certain sort of validity to what I'm doing, what I've been
doing. We communicate via social media and had been doing so for the
past couple of years. But we met in person earlier in the week at the
same sort of event at the Apollo, and it was there that he kind of
revealed to me that during that time in his life when he was still
trying to become a writer and trying to be a writer, that my style of
writing on a particular record — I think it was the Things Fall Apart
album — was what he was kind of modeling his style of writing after. He
was trying to capture a similar voice. So I was super-impressed by that
and I just felt like it was a moment in which things had sort of come
full circle. Because I've definitely been inspired by the book and by
his writing. So, to come to the realization that my work inspired the
work that, in turn, re-inspired — it was just a dope sort of revelation.
On learning later in life of his father's connections to the Philly Black Mafia
I
was, I want to say, 6 or 7 or so when I really began to realize my
father was murdered. But as far back as I can remember I'd always known
that he had passed away. Even now, I continue to just acquire little
tidbits of information. I might run into somebody on the street who's
like, "I'm a big fan. By the way, I was a good friend of your father's."
And they'll give me some information, something that I may not have
ever known about my father in the way he was. Just because it was the
'70s at the time that I lost my father — there wasn't as much
documentation. There were a couple stories, like newspaper clippings,
that were around the time that his body was found. But this is the era
of microfiche as opposed to just being able to Google what had taken
place. There have been some books that have come out over the years
about the Philly Black Mafia, or an organization called Black Brothers,
Inc. And just information that has come out in more recent years about a
particular mosque in Philly, Mosque No. 12 in the Philadelphia Islamic
community at that time, that has shed a little bit more light on my
father and what his sort of dealings were — one side of what his
dealings were. But there's still very much that remains a mystery to me,
even to this day.
On the harsh reality of losing his mother as a teenager
Knowing
that she was a fighter, I know that she put up as much of a fight as
she could. But we lost her. No one had heard from her for about three or
four days, which seemed strange. She would go on binges; she would
disappear sometimes for 24 hours, maybe 48 hours at a time. But when you
start hitting three days, four days, it's like, what's up. And the sad
part about growing up where I did and when I did is, when you haven't
heard from someone for a couple of days, the first thing we do
instinctively is start the search. We start with the hospitals and then
we start with the jails and then we start, you know, beyond that it's
the morgue, you know what I mean. So as we expanded our search, my
mother was found to have been in the morgue. And it was it was crazy.
Our gut told us that we had found her, but she wasn't identifiable. We
had to identify her by some old dental records. So it was crazy, it was
messy, and we couldn't have an open-casket funeral. The worst that you
could expect is the end that she met."
On using art to heal personal tragedy
For
me, the arts has always been sort of my saving grace. The moments in
life that I cherish most were those brief moments when I would get to
escape: either like mentally I would get to escape, because I would be
deep in the creative process, or physically — I would leave the
neighborhood for a little bit to go to art class on Saturday mornings,
or in the summertime my mom would sign me up for art camp, and that took
place out in the middle of Fairmount Park in Philly. So just those
little small pockets of getting away from the neighborhood gave me just a
different perspective when I returned. Yeah, it's always been, for me,
about the arts.
On overcoming his early doubts about The Roots
We
had reached a point during that time where it was like, ahh, maybe this
isn't the best idea. Maybe live instrumentation with me rapping over it
wasn't the best plan. There weren't very many other artists who were
doing that at the time and, I don't know, sometimes you second-guess
yourself. You, know you think, "Well, I think I should just get a DJ,
because that would be a better format within which to showcase my
skills." I felt like the band at the time, like just how cumbersome the
instruments were — a huge upright bass and then Questlove, you know, a
big dude on the drums — I felt like that was all taking away, sort of,
from the focus on me. That being said, we took it to the streets sort of
as a last resort — like, "Well, let's just go and see if this works
out."
On the overwhelming response to his Hot 97 freestyle
The
art of lyricism is now in its greatest decline. That's why it's like,
somebody comes out and you drop some bars of substance, it's like it's
amazing. It's like a unicorn. But, you know, I come from a school.
People who have known me for years, they were less than impressed. Like,
"I've seen you do better." You know what I mean? They pick out little
mistakes: "Oh, you faltered here. This syllable came out weird." And
that's cool, you know what I'm saying — because that's how they know me.
But I feel like the standard, like the bar right now, is particularly
low. So I'm continually trying to raise the bar."
On putting off solo pursuits for years out of obligation to The Roots as a collective
It's
always been about the greater good of our organization for me. All
those solo efforts that I've announced, it breathes new life into the
awareness of me as an artist. The Roots brand always has to be
maintained, and we're just at a place now where prime-time TV affords us
a different sort of visibility and I'm able to kind of take a step back
and focus on some of the other creative energy that I still need to get
out. None of this is my solo album. It's just a chance to see me in a
different light doing a different thing.
On whether his rap moniker, Black Thought, is too black for TV
It has presented some
internal conflict, and the way I address it is just maintaining that
separatism. The fact that Jimmy refers to me only as Tariq on prime-time
television is right on par with me making a conscious effort to be more
vulnerable and show more vulnerability and to be more human and to be
more accessible to my audience. In the beginning, I stopped wearing
sunglasses and everything. When we started the show, that was
short-lived. But yeah, I was trying to just be more transparent in that
way. I feel like Black Thought is a name that has so much meaning and
depth, not only to me but to my fans, that it's something that I wanted
to hold onto a little bit tighter. At the onset of late night with Jimmy
Fallon when it was like, "What are we going to refer to you guys as?" I
don't know, I chose to [be] Tariq.
On frequently being mistaken for Rick Ross
Something
that is funny, that I use sometimes if I'm doing comedy, is the fact
that I'm now often mistaken for the rapper Rick Ross. And I don't know
that I've ever corrected anyone — like I've never said, "No no, I'm not
Rick Ross, I'm Black Thought from The Roots." Sometimes little kids come
up to me shaking: "You mind if I take a picture?" And I'll take a
picture and I'll hear one whisper to the other: 'I love Rick
Ross." Or someone will come up to me on the street, you know, and say
"bawse." Just a couple weeks ago I went to Puerto Rico to do a benefit
concert down there. I arrived at the hotel, the doorman came and opened
the car door and I stepped out, and dude was talking and I just heard
him — in broken English because he had, like, a Spanish accent — I heard
him, just, "Welcome, Mr. Ross." I'd rather not correct them. I
let people have that moment, because for them it's just as special. I
don't say, "No, no. It's me, the dude from The Roots." But sometimes
I've had people come in [and] talk to me for you know five, seven, 10
minutes about how I've impacted their lives and, you know, how important
my music has been. And I might start to assume that they recognize me.
And then they'll get to the end and it's like, you know, 'Thank you,
Rick."
The Roots Questlove, this band's leader, presenting songs from a new album, "... and then you shoot your cousin," at the Public Theater.CreditRuby Washington/The New York Times
Conundrum, provocation, history lesson, ritual, chamber recital, jazz concert, elegy — the Roots’
performance at the Public Theater on Tuesday night was decidedly not a
standard kickoff for a hip-hop album. That was clear when, near the
beginning of the show, balloon animals were dropped onto the stage,
covering it knee-deep; for the rest of the performance, each entrance
and exit was accompanied by balloons popping underfoot like gunshots.
Dozens of nooses also hung overhead.
The
Roots are to release their 11th album, “... and then you shoot your
cousin” (Def Jam), next week. It’s a brief, bleak collection of songs
haunted by the desperate, self-destructive cycles of poverty and by thoughts of death and God.
The music draws on gospel, soul, chamber music, electronic noise and
free jazz, along with brittle hip-hop samples. Songs from the album were
heard on Tuesday night primarily as recordings from the disc-jockey
setup — laptop and turntables — of the Roots’ leader, Questlove (Ahmir
Thompson). The Roots’ main rapper, Black Thought (Tarik Trotter),
delivered poetic monologues instead, including one that telescoped
African-American history from slavery to the present.
Questlove has thought deeply and broadly about African-American culture.
He remains idealistic about the potential role of hip-hop, even as much
current hip-hop endorses shallow materialism, and he determinedly
places the Roots’ hip-hop in the lineage of forward-looking, socially
conscious black music; the concert also featured recordings of Albert
Ayler, James Brown, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln.
The
musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight”
show with Jimmy Fallon. They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the
conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz
pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant
arrangements for the ensemble. Mr. Jackson also hurled crashing
free-jazz clusters and tremolos in a duet with Questlove on drums.
Jeremy Ellis tapped out some two-handed workouts from a sampler, and
near the beginning of the concert, there was a primordial drone from
Craig Harris on didgeridoo, joined by the percussive vocals of Rahzel, a
pioneering beatboxer. Two male dancers also appeared, break dancing
amid the balloons.
It
was a miscellany of grim tidings and stubborn determination, of sounds
both earthy and avant-garde, of bitter realities and electronic
hallucinations. Songs from the album concluded with “Tomorrow,” a
resolutely optimistic tune with the recorded voice of Raheem DeVaughn
declaring himself “thankful to be alive.”
The
Roots followed it with words from a Sun Ra recording — “If you’re not a
myth, whose reality are you?” (and vice versa) — and then the kind of
finale that might be expected from a Roots concert: the appearance of
the band’s lead guitarist, Captain Kirk Douglas, to wail and shred
through a climactic version of Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain.” This
performance wasn’t the rollout of a consumer product; it was joining a
cultural continuum
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C3 of the New York edition with the headline: A Haunting History Lesson With Your Hip-Hop. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper
Black Thought’s 10 minutes of fire set the hip-hop world aflame.
Roots rapper Tariq “Black
Thought” Trotter was a guest on Funkmaster Flex’s radio show on New York
station Hot 97 on Thursday. The Philly emcee and coleader of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
house band let loose with an epic freestyle rap rhymed over the beat to
Mobb Deep’s “The Learning (Burn)” that left all who witnessed it agape. Yes,
he rhymed “sharia law” and “ma cherie amour.” It’s true, geopolitics and
Philadelphia journalism nerds: He name-dropped Henry Kissinger and Buzz
Bissinger. Mass
incarceration of African Americans, and the black woman whose cancer
cells have been have been enormously important in medical research were
discussed in the brilliantly brief line: “We like Henrietta Lacks, we up
in cells.” And, sorry, Kimye fans, he spoke of his own greatness being
on the level of “pre-Kardashian Kanye.” Reaction was over the top, all over Twitter.
There’s a consensus that Kendrick Lamar is the greatest rapper alive,
and there’s been a lot of talk of late about the mastery of veteran
emcees like Jay-Z and Eminem, whose new album Revival comes out
Friday. But on Thursday, after witnessing the staggering breath control
and technical facility and quickness of wit, the hip-hop world had to
step back and collectively think: “Wait a minute … did we forget about
Black Thought?” Hamilton
creator Lin-Manuel Miranda went all-caps with fulsome praise, asking
the rapper: “WHAT DID YOU DO I’LL BE DISSECTING THIS FOR HOURS,” and
later retweeted Questlove proclaiming “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods
Before Black Thought.” By Thursday night, Diddy had joined in,
declaring: “THIS IS THE GREATEST FREESTYLE IN ALL OF HIP-HOP HISTORY!!!!” This gif of Funkmaster Flex’s reaction shots is also amusing. As for Black Thought, he was nonchalant, tweeting: “That verse was just what I had to say at the moment lol.” Watch the entire performance below. The Roots’ next album, Endgame, is due in 2018. Hot 97
BLACK THOUGHT FREESTYLES ON FLEX
#FREESTYLE087
The legendary Black Thought freestyle at HOT 97 with Funk Flex. 10 minutes of absolute BARS. Voted #1 freestyle of 2017
When
Chace Crawford, the “Gossip Girl” tabloid magnet, stepped onto the
stage of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” on Friday, he was greeted with
an elastic funk rendition of Timex Social Club’s “Rumors,” courtesy of
the show’s house band, the Roots. The night before, the group serenaded
Donald Trump with Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” (as in, “cash rules
everything around me”), and Serena Williams perhaps pretended not to
notice when she emerged in a skin-tight black dress to the thump of
E.U.’s go-go classic “Da Butt.”
In
short, the greatest revelation of the first week of “Late Night With
Jimmy Fallon” on NBC was that it’s wholly plausible that the Roots are
funnier than their host.
This
long-running Philadephia hip-hop outfit — “the legendary Roots crew” is
how they’re introduced each night — hasn’t historically been known for
humor. But like many others in these lean times, the band is adapting.
For
more than 15 years the Roots have been hip-hop workhorses, known for
precision and tenacity, if not hits and magnetism. As the genre has
shifted and evolved around — and in many ways beyond — them, they have
remained committed to a role as flamekeeper of a certain strain of
hip-hop authenticity.
They
laid the blueprint for hip-hop’s second wave of bohemianism in the
mid-1990s, and with their commitment to excavating and preserving the
genre’s history through reproduction, they helped enact the idea of
hip-hop as intellectual pursuit. When Jay-Z needed a backing troop for
his 2001 “MTV Unplugged” special, he called the Roots.
The Roots playing the Highline Ballroom Thursday night.Credit
Chad Batka for The New York Times
But
even as they became more established as a band, they mattered far more
as an idea. And that idea has been tested in recent months, as
discussions of the Roots’ participation in “Late Night” came with their
own stages of grief. If the Roots could not be relied upon to resist the
lure of big media, who could be?
But
even if Mr. Fallon’s show is successful and irrevocably alters the
public image of the Roots, certain things will remain. Still, the group
will be versatile and technically accomplished. And still, the group
will be a signifier, a lender of integrity, more than a center of fame
in its own right. Put more simply, the Roots will still be in the
background.
Unlike
most late-night TV bands, cobbled together piecemeal, the Roots arrived
at “Late Night” more or less fully formed, with a core — the drummer
Ahmir Thompson, better known as ?uestlove, and the rapper Tariq Trotter,
better known as Black Thought — that’s been intact since the two met at
the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts in the
late 1980s.
The
Roots have long been anomalous in the hip-hop world for their
commitment to touring, which they keep up because, while they’re widely
known and admired, they are not, strictly speaking, popular. No Roots
album has been certified platinum: of the group’s eight albums, only two
— 1999’s “Things Fall Apart” and 2002’s “Phrenology” — have gone gold.
The band has never had a top 10 song on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Singles chart or cracked the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100.
“Our
manager would not let us take this gig if it didn’t match or surpass
what we get on the road,” ?uestlove told Rolling Stone.
The Roots are the house band for Jimmy Fallon, center.Credit
Dana Edelson/NBC
And
so the Fallon gig is a career boon for the Roots, who will be traveling
less — they’ve historically toured with jam-band assiduity, sometimes
more than 300 days a year — but will be far more widely seen.
And
more widely tested too, as evidenced during the show’s first week. The
band was integral to several sketches — playing behind Justin Timberlake
as he did impressions of John Mayer and Michael McDonald, and
delivering an electro beat for a dance-off between Mr. Fallon and
Cameron Diaz. On Tuesday it backed an audience member performing karaoke
of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” nearly collapsing in laughter as
its members shouted the song’s refrain. In a Twitter post that night,
?uestlove wondered, “Is it somewhat narcissistic of me to rotf” — that’s
roll on the floor, as in laughing — “for that ‘waaaaaaaaaaaaanted’?”
On
the first show, during the opening monologue, Mr. Fallon announced that
a certain news item needed “to be slow-jammed,” which cued the band
into a segment of pillow-soft soul during which Black Thought showed off
credible singing chops, crooning about Representative Nancy Pelosi, the
House speaker, with raspy charm: “You can rush my stimulus, baby!”
Of
all the Roots — the band also includes the keyboardists James Poyser
and Kamal Gray, the guitar player Kirk Douglas, the bass player Owen
Biddle, the tuba player Damen Bryson and the percussionist Frank
Walker — “Late Night” poses the greatest challenge to Black Thought, a
rapper with almost no opportunities to rap here. And his hesitation has
been palpable, occasionally tossing off a couple of bars of rhyme but
mostly sticking to crowd-oriented chants that act essentially as filler.
Much
of the music the Roots play on “Late Night” is over in less than a
minute, hardly time to build the sort of narratives Black Thought has
made his stock in trade. And he’s not alone in being marginalized: Mr.
Poyser and Mr. Gray play on a balcony hovering above the rest of the
band, hardly seen on camera.
The Roots at the Highline Ballroom, with Black Thought performing.Credit
Chad Batka for The New York Times
As
a TV unit the Roots are still getting their footing. They are not yet
as muscular as the outfit that gave “The Arsenio Hall Show” its funk in
the early ’90s, and not as nimble as the Paul Shaffer-led CBS Orchestra,
on “Late Show with David Letterman.” (Nor is this the first hip-hop act
to anchor a late-night talk show. The pioneering D.J. Grandmaster Flash
provided the music for “The Chris Rock Show,” which was on HBO from
1997 to 2000.)
And
for every moment where the Roots displayed their unique appeal, there
were several more — the bread and butter of the gig, it should be said —
when it didn’t at all matter that it was the Roots onstage with Mr.
Fallon. They were just another highly competent and flexible band
playing roots reggae, psychedelic rock, New Age, whatever. And sometimes
they’re just there for ?uestlove to play a drumroll, like the moment
when an awkward kid plucked from the audience licked a lawnmower to win
$10.
If
that young man is wise, he’ll apply that prize money toward a ticket to
one of the Thursday night Roots-led jam sessions at the Highline
Ballroom in the next three months of shows, advance tickets for which
are only $10.
The
Roots will still tour occasionally, but the Highline will be, for now,
the place where they unwind from a week of playing song bites. Beginning
on March 26 ?uestlove will also have a Thursday-night D.J. residency at
the nightclub Le Poisson Rouge. In a recent Twitter post he copped to
being “more nervous about my weekly at LPR and the jam sessions” than
about the Fallon show.
“Something
very loose,” Black Thought said early in Thursday’s inaugural Highline
show, referring to the evening’s structure. “Something we don’t
overproduce.” He’s a gusher of an M.C., and within seconds of taking the
stage, he appeared to be purging no small amount of pent-up rhyme.
But
here again the Roots slipped easily into their role as facilitators.
Soon the stage was overrun with guests: the rappers Talib Kweli and
Pharoahe Monch, the retrosoul singers Chrisette Michele and Raheem
DeVaughn. Best was a stirring turn by the alto saxophonist Gary Bartz,
known for his work with Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner and others, and most
enthusiastically received was John Forté, the former Fugees affiliate
recently released from a 14-year prison sentence on drug trafficking
charges commuted by President George W. Bush.
Behind
them all the Roots played dependably like a metronome. Sometimes they
were invigorating, and sometimes they were colorless. But how they
played felt less crucial than the fact of their appearance itself. In
their expert reliability the Roots create spaces for other peoples’
creativity, even if their own is threatened with becoming a relic.
Correction: March 12, 2009 A music column on Tuesday about the band the Roots misstated
the nights the band’s drummer, Ahmir Thompson, better known as
?uestlove, will have a D.J. residency at the nightclub Le Poisson Rouge.
It will be Thursday nights, starting March 26, not Tuesday nights.
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Stepping to the Fore as a Backup Band. Order Reprints|Today's Paper
THE MUSIC OF THE ROOTS: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWSWITH THE ROOTS:
The Roots is an American hip hop band, formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots are known for a jazzy and eclectic approach to hip-hop featuring live musical instruments.[1]Malik B., Leonard "Hub" Hubbard, and Josh Abrams were added to the band (formerly named "The Square Roots"). Since its first independent album-length release the band has
released 10 studio albums, two EPs, two collaboration albums (with other
artists), and also collaborated on recordings and in live shows with a
wide variety of artists in many musical genres. The Roots served as the house band on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon starting in 2009, and in the same role (and accompanying show guest artists) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014. The Roots' work has consistently been met with critical acclaim. ThoughtCo ranked the band #7 on its list of the 25 Best Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time, calling them "Hip-hop's first legitimate band."[2]
Band history
Early years
Rapper Black Thought is the lead vocalist of The Roots.
The Roots originated in Philadelphia with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson
and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter while they were both attending the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.[3] They would busk
out on the street corners with Questlove playing bucket drums and Tariq
rapping over his rhythms. Their first organized gig was a talent show
in 1989 at the school where they used the name Radio Activity, which
began a series of name changes that progressed through Black to the
Future and then The Square Roots.[4] In 1992, they dropped the "Square" because a local folk group had claim to the name. Organix
was the band's first album, released and sold independently in 1993. It
drew offers from music labels, and the band signed with DGC/Geffen. The
Roots' first album for DGC, Do You Want More?!!!??!, was released in 1994. It was a moderate hit among alternative music fans, boosted by the group's appearance at Lollapalooza. The band performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival that year. Touring guests, beatboxer Rahzel and producer Scott Storch, joined The Roots.[5] The 1996 release Illadelph Halflife was the group's first album to break the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart,[5] spurred in part by MTV's airplay of the video for "What They Do" (a parody of rap video clichés)[6]
and "Clones", which was their first single to reach the top five on the
rap charts. "What They Do" was also the group's first single to hit the
Top 40 of Billboard's charts, reaching a peak of #34. While continuing on the path of live instrumentation, the album's sound was somewhat darker.
Breakthrough with Things Fall Apart
The group released Things Fall Apart in 1999 (named after Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, which in turn was named after a line from "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats). This was their breakthrough album, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 charts and earning a gold record, signifying U.S. sales of at least 500,000 units.[7] The album was eventually certified platinum in April 2013. Mos Def contributed to the track entitled "Double Trouble". The track "Act Two" features African-Belgian band Zap Mama and Common. The track "You Got Me", a duet with R&B singer Erykah Badu and Eve and Jill Scott intended by Black Thought for the "unconscious" population,[8] peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. At the 42nd Grammy Awards "You Got Me" won the award for Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group[9] and the album was nominated for Best Rap Album.[10] Steve Huey of the website allmusic.com perceived "a strong affinity for the neo-soul movement" in the album.[11] First-time cameos on Things Fall Apart for Philadelphia natives Beanie Sigel and Eve helped to earn them major record deals later (with Roc-A-Fella and Ruff Ryders, respectively). After this album, Dice Raw left the collective to record his solo debut album Reclaiming the Dead. In the summer, the band performed at the Woodstock '99 concert in New York state.[12]
Phrenology
Several members, including longtime member Malik B., left the group. In December 2001, the Roots backed Jay-Z for his MTV Unplugged concert.[13] With heightened popularity came mounting pressure. The Roots released Phrenology (named after the pseudoscience of phrenology) in 2002. Despite not charting as high as Things Fall Apart, reaching a peak of No. 28 on the charts, Phrenology
was commercially successful, being certified gold, and earning a Grammy
nomination for Best Rap Album. At the time, however, there came rumors
that the Roots were losing interest in their signing with MCA.[5] During this time, the band backed Jay-Z for his 2003 farewell concert in Madison Square Garden and appeared in the accompanying Fade to Black concert film.
The Tipping Point
After Phrenology, Ben Kenney and Scratch both left the group; Kenney joined the rock band Incubus.[14] This culminated with the release of 2004's The Tipping Point, the byproduct of several jam sessions.[5]
The album earned two more Grammy nominations: one for Best
Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Star/Pointro" and another
for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for the track "Don't Say
Nuthin'."[15]The Tipping Point peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard album chart. In 2005, Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide To Understanding The Roots, Volumes 1 & 2, a two-disc compilation album, was released. The Roots were among several performers on the 2006 film Dave Chappelle's Block Party, whose event took place on September 18, 2004[16] and was released on film two years later.[17]
Game Theory
Game Theory was released August 29, 2006, on Def Jam records. Questlove describes the album as being very dark and reflective of the political state in America.[18]
The first single from the album, "Don't Feel Right", appeared on the
internet in May 2006, and is available for free download on several
websites. The album's first video, titled "The Don't Feel Right
Trilogy", premiered on August 21, 2006, and features three songs, "In
the Music", "Here I Come" and "Don't Feel Right". It earned an 83 on
Metacritic and 2 Grammy Nominations. The late J Dilla
is honoured on different occasions throughout the album. Track 1 is
credited to be "Supervised by J Dilla". Track 13 "Can't Stop This" is
devoted to his persona, the first part being an edited version of a
track ("Time: The Donut of the Heart") of his Donuts album,
released three days before his death. This version comprises vocals by
Black Thought. Secondly, a string of kindred artists reminisce about J
Dilla in the form of answering machine messages.
Rising Down
The Roots' eighth studio album, Rising Down, was released on April 29, 2008, the 16-year anniversary of the Los Angeles riots of 1992. In the weeks before the album's release, the original first single
"Birthday Girl", a radio-friendly collaboration with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump was removed from the album reportedly because it didn't fit in with the album's tone.[19] It remained as a digital download available from iTunes as a bonus track, as well as on international releases. Picking up where Game Theory left off, the album maintains a
dark and political tone, with Black Thought and several guests venting
about the ills of society today. The album's guests include Chrisette Michele, Common, Mos Def, Saigon, Styles P, Talib Kweli, and Wale; it also features Philadelphia artists Dice Raw, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Peedi Crakk, Greg Porn, and Truck North, as well as former member Malik B. Rising Down features the Roots incorporating a more electronic and synth-heavy feel into their sound. Rising Down was released to critical acclaim, garnering an overall score of 80 on Metacritic. The album's first single was "Rising Up" featuring Chrisette Michele and Wale.
How I Got Over
How I Got Over reflects the relief the band felt at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama presidency. Guests include Blu, Phonte and Patty Crash. A cover of Cody Chesnutt's song "Serve This Royalty" was expected to be covered on the album, similar to the group's reworking of his single for The Seed 2.0 on Phrenology.[20] Rather than relying on samples, the album was recorded live, with covers (including Celestial Blues, featuring the song's original artist, Andy Bey) being reinterpreted by the band.[21] The album was released on June 22, 2010. On June 24, 2009, the Roots debuted the first single and title track from the album live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The song features longtime Roots collaborator Dice Raw.[22]
Wake Up!
The Roots collaborated with R&B singer John Legend on the album Wake Up!.
The album was released on September 21, 2010, and was publicized two
days later with a live concert at Terminal 5 in New York City with John Legend and Jennifer Hudson that was streamed on YouTube. On October 30, 2010, the Roots and John Legend played live at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C.
Betty Wright: The Movie
The Roots collaborated with R&B singer Betty Wright on the 2011 album Betty Wright: The Movie, credited to Betty Wright and the Roots. The album, co-produced by Wright and Questlove, was nominated for a 2012 Grammy in the "Best Traditional R&B Performance".
Undun
The Roots released their thirteenth album Undun via Def Jam Records on December 6, 2011.[23] The first single "Make My" leaked on October 17, 2011. Undun
tells the story of their semi-fictional character, Redford Stephens,
who struggles unsuccessfully to avoid a life of crime and fast money.
The album's name is inspired by The Guess Who's song "undun", and the character was named after the Sufjan Stevens song "Redford".[24] The album features artists including Aaron Livingston, Big K.R.I.T., Phonte, Dice Raw, Greg Porn, Truck North, Bilal, and Sufjan Stevens.
The Roots released ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin on May 19, 2014. The first single, "When the People Cheer", was released on April 7, 2014. Black Thought described the album as a satirical look at violence in hip-hop and American society overall.[27]
End Game
In an interview with Fuse TV,
Questlove said he also had "...two or three secret, major musical
projects that I'm working on that I can't really talk about."[28] In September 2016 The Roots backed up Usher
at a Global Citizen benefit concert in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
launching speculation of a major collaboration between the two acts. In
October 2016, the group announced their 17th studio album, End Game.[29]Black Thought in June 2017 further revealed that producers 9th Wonder and Salaam Remi will contribute to the album.[30]
Members
The Roots' original lineup included Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter (MC) and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (drums), classmates at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.[5] As they began to play at school and on local streets, they added bassist Josh "The Rubberband" Abrams, who went on to form the jazz group The Josh Abrams Quartet. They later added another MC, Malik Abdul Basit-Smart ("Malik B.") and Leonard Nelson "Hub" Hubbard (bass), and Scott Storch (keyboards). Kenyatta "Kid Crumbs" Warren (MC) was in the band for Organix, the Roots' first album release. Another MC, Dice Raw, joined the band in cameo appearances on later albums. The band filled Storch's position with Kamal Gray (keyboards), who continues in that capacity. Kamal Gray did not play with the Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
between April or May and early September 2012. His absence was not
publicly explained, however on the September 17, 2012 (NBC's 'Late
Night' 700th) episode, Gray returned to the group. BeatboxerRahzel was a band member from 1995 to 1999. Alongside Rahzel was turntablist/vocalist Scratch,
who also DJ'd in live concerts. However Scratch left abruptly in 2003.
Malik B. left the group in 1999 due to personal reasons but continued to
record, making occasional cameos on some albums. Guitarist Ben Kenney, had a brief stint with the group and contributed to the Phrenology album, but left to join Incubus as bassist. Percussionist Frank Knuckles joined the lineup in 2002 and guitarist Kirk "Captain Kirk" Douglas replaced Kenney. Vocalist Martin Luther toured with the Roots in 2003 and 2004 and contributed to the Tipping Point
album. The group announced in August 2007 that its longtime bassist
Leonard Hubbard was leaving. Owen Biddle was the band's bassist in
2007–2011. The band announced on August 25, 2011 that Owen Biddle left the band, replaced by Mark Kelley.[31][32] On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, James Poyser plays additional keyboards. Because most of the band members hail from Philadelphia and its
surrounding area, they showed their support for the Phillies during the
2009 World Series against the Yankees, displaying Phillies memorabilia
when performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On the episode which aired the day after the Yankees clinched the title, Questlove
stated "No comment!" on the show's intro (when he usually states the
episode number), and had a Yankees logo purposely displayed upside-down
on his drumset. In 2010, the group showed support for the Flyers during
their run to the Stanley Cup Final by having the team logo on their
drumset, and again in 2014 when the Flyers faced the New York Rangers in
the first round of the playoffs on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In April 2017, Frank Knuckles left the Roots due to family issues, and has not appeared on The Tonight Show since then. Later in August 2017, Knuckles sued Questlove, Black Thought and the band manager Shawn Gee over unpaid royalties.[33] In June 2017, Questlove announced in an interview that producer and performer Stro Elliot is an official member of the Roots.[34]
As the Tonight Show Band, the Roots also include David Guy and
Ian Hendrickson-Smith, trumpet and saxophone players previously known
for their work with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.[35]
The band tours extensively, and their live sets are frequently hailed as the best in the genre.[36] In 2006, the band played a concert in NYC's Radio City Music Hall with Common, Nas, Talib Kweli and Big Daddy Kane.[37] Also in 2006, they backed Jay-Z for his Reasonable Doubt Concert, a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the release of his first album.[38][39] In 1994, the Roots appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool.
The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS
epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as
"Album of the Year" by Time magazine. They have been highly involved in many other Red Hot Organization productions, including the 1998 album Red Hot + Rhapsody and the 2001 album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington.
The Roots' Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame marker located on South Broad Street
In March 2009, the Roots became the new official house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with "Here I Come" as the show's theme.[50] When Jimmy Fallon became the host of The Tonight Show in February 2014, the Roots became the house band for that show.[51] The Roots are featured heavily throughout the show, providing the
bumper music in and out of commercials, as well as the opening song "Here I Come"
and playing the show off the air. Fallon frequently interacts with the
band during the course of the show, and they occasionally provide
snippets of music for some monologue running jokes such as Funkin'
GoNuts. They also provide music and drum rolls for the games with show
guests, along with theme songs for the games and segments like Darts of
Insanity, Wheel of Carpet Samples, and Christmas Sweaters. On November 22, 2011, US Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was a guest on Late Night. For her entrance, the Roots controversially played a snippet from Fishbone's 1985 song, "Lying Ass Bitch"[52] resulting in apologies from Fallon,[53] Questlove for The Roots,[54] and NBC.[55] The incident nearly resulted in the Roots being dismissed from the show, but the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday and a national security gaffe[56] by Bachmann shortly after helped defuse the situation in the media.[57] As a result of the incident, NBC approves all walk on songs prior to filming each show.[57]
Sketches
One of the first sketches involving the Roots was "Freestyling with the Roots".
Fallon finds an audience member and gets them to talk about themselves
and a topic. The information is relayed to Tariq along with a genre of
music, and they then compose a song on the spot. In the early days of
the show in 2009, there was apprehension about their overall fit with
the show, but after the first appearance of this sketch and its
successful reception, "...They knew they were there for life."[58]
Thank You Notes, a segment every Friday, involves keyboardist James Poyser
prominently. The segment starts with "Can I get some thank you writing
music, James?" with Poyser playing and typically acting upset. Fallon
then tries to engage with him to get him to smile before continuing the
segment.
Slow Jam the News features Fallon and Tariq, often with a celebrity guest, rhyming over a "slow-jam"
played by the Roots. The lyrics are often political or current events
related, with guests usually appearing to talk about an issue pertinent
to them. Brian Williams is a frequent popular guest "vocalist", talking about the news as if he were still behind his anchor desk.[59] Some of the notable guest slow-jammers include sitting PresidentBarack Obama,[60] and former Governor Mitt Romney.[61] Like the majority of the show, the segments are uploaded to YouTube after airing on NBC and often go viral; President Obama's clip has received over 8 million views[62] and the Mitt Romney clip received 2.7 million views in less than a week.[63]
The Roots also provide the backing tracks for Fallon's and Justin Timberlake's episodic "History of Rap". By March 2014, the incredibly popular[75] History of Rap saga consists of 5 parts and 101 individual songs, all performed with a comedic approach.[76][77] The fifth installment was performed during the inaugural week of Fallon's Tonight Show.[77]
A
distinctive feature of the Roots albums is the way tracks are numbered.
With the exception of their collaboration albums, the Roots have used
continuous track numbering beginning with their first studio album Organix through all following albums:[85]
1-17: Organix
18-33: Do You Want More?!!!??!
34-53: Illadelph Halflife
54-71: Things Fall Apart
72-76: The Legendary
77-86: The Roots Come Alive
87-102: Phrenology
103-113: The Tipping Point
114-127: Game Theory
127-144: Rising Down
145-158: How I Got Over
159-172: Undun
173-183: …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin
Questlove references this numbering system in his book Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (specifically to the release of Illadelph Halflife), and explains it was "...our way of saying that it was a continuation of the work we had started on Organix and Do You Want More?!!!??!."[86] Similarly, the Roots' 2005 compilation albums, Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding The Roots, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2,
feature a continuous track numbering beginning at negative 29 and
counting up to zero. The implication is that this "Beginners Guide"
would introduce new fans to the Roots and lead them to consuming the
Roots' discography beginning at Organix.[citation needed]
-29 thru -14: Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding The Roots, Vol. 1
-13 thru 0: Home Grown! The Beginners Guide to Understanding The Roots, Vol. 2
Mervis, Scott (April 10, 2014). "Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings get back on the road". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 23, 2014. The
band also has been dealing with the usual revolving personnel changes,
as horn player[s] Ian Hendrickson-Smith and David Guy went off to join
the Roots for The Tonight Show,...
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
