The Roots, 'How I Got Over' (Def Jam)
Hip-hop's knotty conscience asks the tough questions
By Charles Aaron 06.24.10 10:01 AM
When Jim James addresses a higher power on Monsters of Folk's "Dear God"—gently entreating, "Why do we suffer?"—he sounds like an uneasy supplicant. But on the Roots' "Dear God 2.0" (also featuring James), frontman Black Thought goes B-boy Book of Job, decrying technology, acid rain, tsunamis, stock-market collapse, wars, atrocities.
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LISTEN: New Roots Album!
How I Got Over, featuring John Legend, Jim James, Joanna Newsom, and members of Dirty Projectors, is streaming now!
By Patrick D`Arcy 06.21.10 10:14 AM
The Roots are back with their first new album since becoming America's favorite late-night house band -- and their full-time gig with Jimmy Fallon hasn't tamed the Philly boys one bit. Listen to How I Got Over, a day before its official June 22 release, over at MySpace right now.
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Jim James, John Legend on New Roots Album
Joanna Newsom also appears on the genre-bending group's June release, How I Got Over.
By Kelsey Paine 04.22.10 10:10 AM
Philadelphia hip-hop group the Roots are no strangers to genre-bending collaborations -- they recently jammed with electro-rockers Hot Chip on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And with their upcoming June release, the Roots are adding three new artists to their list.
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DOWNLOAD: Roots Release 'Late Night' Jams
Philly band post 22 songs online, originally written for and performed on TV.
By William Goodman 12.16.09 7:23 AM
Do you ever find yourself diggin' those short bits of music the Roots play as the cameras pan across Late Night's Studio 6B to zero in on host Jimmy Fallon's mug? We do. And in honor of penning 1,000 of 'em, the Philly band just released 22 of these tracks for free -- sweet!!
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Live: Kid Rock, Eminem, Roots Celebrate Def Jam
Public Enemy, Wale, Ghostface, and more pay tribute to the label at a Brooklyn concert, filmed for VH1's Hip-Hop Honors.
By William Goodman 09.24.09 4:43 PM
Some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including Eminem, Redman, Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Ghostface Killah, Public Enemy, Wale, the Roots, and Kid Rock, joined forces for a concert Wednesday night in Brooklyn to pay tribute to one of hip-hop's most influential building blocks: Def Jam Records, a label that supported formative artists like LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Run-DMC.
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