The Roots have quietly been one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time. The Philadelphia based band have real classics in their catalog, from Things Fall Apart in 2000 to Illadelph Halflife in 1995. The reason they tend to fall under the radar is because they’ve gotten a lot quieter over the years. Their last record …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin released in 2014 came out while they were working their full-time gig doing the late night show with Jimmy Fallon.
Now, over a decade later, they’re finally releasing a new album titled Endgame. The question is: what took them so long? In an interview with Billboard, Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots explained that they had to rediscover the creative spark that made them such a fantastic group in the first place. After working on their own solo records, they had to get back into the jam sessions that made them click in the first place.
“We’re still those 15-year-olds maintaining that [love for the music],” Questlove said. “Every time I see units and guys saying, ‘We gotta go solo,’ I’m sure it’s the Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson effect of the highlight reel. But we’ve learned that groups and collaborations are probably the wisest way to set a legacy. The solo thing is an illusion because you still need people on the team to do that. That’s what kept us together.”
The Roots Finally Get Back Together for a New Album
“We’re still very much fans of the game, and the curiosity is still there. We’ve had so many ‘we’ve arrived’ moments that it’s so hard to count. Everything feels like a new beginning,” Black Thought added.
Admittedly, working with Jimmy Fallon have kept them busier than anything. But rather than look at it as something that’s kept them from working, The Roots looked at it as keeping fresh. By performing every night, they stayed on point for their live performances.
“I consider The Tonight Show 11 musicians doing eight to 10 hours a week in the gym because the thing is, our shows have been better than they’ve ever been,” Questlove said.
“And yeah, any job can get monotonous, but we’ve never not played 10 hours a week — minus the pandemic — since 2008,” he added of The Roots’ work ethic. “Being in a position where we have to write eight-second themes is a very, very hard thing to do and also just observing how rhythm and timing work, how punch lines and setups land, all that we can apply to where we are now.”
Photo by Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
The post The Roots Return With a New Album After a Decade-Long Hiatus: Here’s What Kept Them Together All These Years appeared first on VICE.
