The Roots
29 articles
List of articles in the library
Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1996
THE FUNKY FOUR FROM ILLADELPHIA GET ECLECTIC. ...
The Roots: Illadelph Halflife (Geffen)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997
HIP HOP RULE NUMBER 4080: "live" instrumentation and hip hop don't mix. Hip hop rule Number 4081: except for The Roots. The exception, the exceptional, ...
The Roots: Jazz Café, London; Effenaar, Eindhoven; Nighttown, Rotterdam
Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 22 February 1997
HOLD THE front page! Rap band in 'turns up' shock! Punters left reeling after American rappers successfully tour Europe... ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 April 1997
THE EARNEST young man sitting in a corner of London's empty Colombia Hotel bar on this late March afternoon doesn't look like a difficult customer ...
The Roots, Goodie Mob: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 1998
Roots, Goodie Mob Get Back to Basics ...
Report and Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Spin, March 1999
THE ROOTS' new album, Things Fall Apart, bears all the signs of the Big Statement. There are five separate covers, each featuring a disturbing historical ...
Prince Paul: A Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy); The Roots: Things Fall Apart (MCA)
Review by Neil Kulkarni, Spin, March 1999
WHAT'S SO satisfying about the new offerings from Prince Paul and the Roots is how cut-off they seem from both indie-rap's 12-inch fetishism and pop-rap's ...
Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, The Village Voice, March 1999
USED TO BE, a hiphop love song was something like Rakim's 'Mahogany' or Shallah Raekwon's 'Ice Cream'- tunes celebrating shorties from around the way; hardrocks ...
The Roots: House of Blues, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 10 March 1999
A Stripped-Down Hip-Hop Beat ...
The Roots: Things Fall Apart (MCA)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 March 1999
ERUDITE, LITERATE and keenly aware of their surroundings, Philadelphia's the Roots have become an anomaly in hip-hop – even though they arguably stay truest to ...
The Roots: Astoria, London WC2
Live Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 1 May 1999
YEAH, THE Roots are live hip-hop, but that ain't what makes 'em special. What makes The Roots special is just how good their itchy, firebrand ...
The Roots, Melky Sedeck: Astoria, London
Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999
R&B. WE HATE that schmaltzy shit, don't we? Well, no, not when it's as sassy and spiritually uplifting as Melky Sedeck. ...
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Chicago Tribune, 22 July 2001
TO UNDERSTAND WHY the Roots are the world's best live-on-stage hip-hop act, you have to look past the front line of rappers and check out ...
Audiotistic: "Happy Hip-Hop" Sets Festival's Vibe
Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 11 April 2002
The organizers of Audiotistic expect 37,000 fans to show up for an event that plays against type. ...
Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2002
ON PAPER, 2002 has been a bumper year for hip hop. Eminem was man of the moment again, Ashanti appeared out of nowhere and shot ...
Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, January 2003
FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS the city of Philadelphia has sponsored the Philadelphia College Festival. Held directly across the steps of the Art Museum (home ...
The Roots: Hip Hop Erudition And Wit
Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2003
"I'M ALIVE NOW!" BARKS AHMIR ?uestlove Thompson, drummer and de facto leader of Philadelphia hip hop band The Roots, and music press consumer of impeccable ...
Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 17 January 2003
Someone should have taken Kim Howells to see The Roots live in London, a black hip-hop band fronted by two frantic rappers playing to a ...
The Roots: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, June 2003
Philadelphia's venerated hip hop orchestra deliver a joyous lesson in the genre's elastic embrace ...
The Roots: The Tipping Point (MCA) ***
Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, August 2004
Philadelphia freedom: A sixth album of adventurous, organic hip hop from the city of brotherly love. By Stevie Chick ...
The Roots: They're A (Funky) American Band
Profile by Jason Gross, Creative Loafing, 5 October 2006
"WHAT KIND OF music do they play?" a Def Jam receptionist innocently asked, when queried about the Roots. Although self-classified as a rap group, the ...
The Roots: It's Like A Jungle Sometimes...
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 25 April 2008
They are a hip-hop purist's dream, constantly touring and constantly praised. But behind the scenes, the Roots have a fight on their hands. Angus Batey ...
The Roots with Ornette Coleman: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by John Lewis, The Guardian, 17 June 2009
IT SEEMS fitting that Philadelphia hip-hoppers the Roots should help kick off Ornette Coleman's Meltdown festival. ...
The Roots: How I Got Over (Mercury/Def Jam)
Review by John Lewis, Metro, 27 June 2010
PHILADELPHIA'S ROOTS aren't really like any other hip hop acts. They're a proper live band, for starters (you might have seen them guesting as the ...
John Legend and the Roots: Wake Up!
Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 21 September 2010
A masterclass in how to respectfully update and enhance classic music. ...
John Legend and the Roots: Hearts, Minds and Soul
Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 19 October 2010
John Legend and the Roots' album of '60s and '70s protest songs is no mere history lesson – it's an open letter to a divided ...
Betty Wright & The Roots: Betty Wright – The Movie (S-Curve)
Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 7 July 2012
All the Wright moves as a soul star revisits her roots. ...
The Music of Prince: Carnegie Hall, New York
Live Review by Alan Light, MSN.com, March 2013
PRINCE HAS long been considered a gold standard as a singer, guitarist, stage performer, and producer. He's such a singular force, though, that he hasn't ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, September 2013
Forged in the unlikely surroundings of an American late-night TV show, the transatlantic union between Elvis Costello and The Roots' drummer and co-frontman Questlove has ...
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