The Roots are a hip hop group, formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both have established themselves as successful authors, while The Roots are known for a jazzy and eclectic approach to hip-hop, featuring live musical instruments. They released 10 studio albums, two EPs, and two collaboration albums. The Roots are the in studio house band for NBC’s, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and have earned major respect in the music industry as they’ve been regarded to as "Hip-hop's first legitimate band.”Questlove served as the Director of the Highly Acclaimed Movie, ‘Summer of Soul’, which debuted on Hulu in Fall 2021, and won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2022. Questlove’s also responsible for the critically acclaimed documentary, ‘Sly Lives…The Burden of Black Genius’…about the life of Sly Stone, and is the curator of the Questlove Supreme podcast which can be found on YouTube. Up next for Quest…a documentary slated for release in 2027 chronicling the R&B Supergroup Earth, Wind and Fire. Meanwhile, Black Thought can be heard on the new De La Soul album on the track ‘En Eff’ and has just teased a new collaboration with legendary Hip Hop Producer, 9th Wonder. The Roots themselves played a special Valentine’s Day concert at Brooklyn Bowl in Philly two weeks ago.
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