The Roots Tickets

Breaking the mould by moving hip hop away from samples and turntables toward live instrumentation, The Roots introduced an innovative and eclectic brand of socially conscious rap to the world, and remain one of the genre’s most enduring groups because of it. 

The Roots’ story begins in 1987 at Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, when co-founders Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter crossed paths. The pair would busk together in the project’s infancy, slowly recruiting further members – such as MC Malik B., and bassist Leonard ‘Hub’ Hubbard – whilst churning through a series of monikers. After settling on The Roots and failing to make a meaningful dent in the Philadelphian music scene, the group temporarily relocated to London.

In England’s capital, The Roots independently released their 1993 debut, Organix, which helped them develop a cult following around Europe with the industry eyes from the US watching closely. Having drummed up critical acclaim and a considerable following throughout their extensive tours, a label battle ensued with DCG Records winning their signatures. Their sophomore album, Do You Want More?!!!??!, came in 1995, a vital jazz-rap record that gave the band an even bigger audience, with performances at Lollapalooza and Montreux Jazz Festival.

Over the course of the next few years, The Roots made their mainstream breakthrough with 1996’s Illadelph Halflife and 1999’s Things Fall Apart, both odes to urban existence that charted on the US Billboard album charts. The latter of which spawned the GRAMMY Award-winning single ‘You Got Me’, a moving duet with neo soul veteran Erykah Badu. The band also formed the progressive collective Soulquarians with Badu, alongside D’Angelo, Common, Mos Def, J Dilla, Talib Kweli. Questlove was a crucial cog throughout the scene’s existence, acting as a de facto figurehead whilst being a consistent presence on the collective's album releases.

2002 saw the release Phrenology, The Roots’ only album to feature guitarist Ben Kenney before he joined Incubus as their bassist. The project featured the sumptuously slick second single ‘The Seed (2.0)’, a collaboration with soul singer Cody Chesnutt; and 'Break You Off' with neo soul vocalist Musiq Soulchild. Continuing to evolve on their subsequent release, 2004’s The Tipping Point, The Roots embraced electronica, funk and soul.

A revolving-door policy of band members hasn’t at all hindered The Roots’ momentum, having consistently scored GRAMMY nominations for subsequent releases, winning Best R&B Album in 2011 for their collaborative album, Wake Up!, with John Legend. Taking on the house band duties for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2009 and later for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, broadcast the group into national homes on a nightly basis, securing their status as television personalities alongside their roles as cultural influencers committed to social justice. By merging the collaborative and improvisation hallmarks of jazz music, The Roots made certain that hip hop wouldn’t be the same without them.