THE ROOTS FINISHING UP HARDER MORE SERIOUS RECORD

?uestlove, drummer for The Roots, gives an update on their upcoming new album and it’s not the only album he is working on at this time.

The Roots are currently in the studio finishing up their highly anticipated follow up to 2006’s ‘Game Theory’ which peaked at #9 on the U.S. Billboard Chart. The album which is titled ‘Rising Down’ is tentatively scheduled to be released at the end of April 2008. Already with a Grammy Award and being named ‘One of the 20 Greatest Live Acts in the World’ by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2003, The Roots have been winning fans over around the world with their infectious blend of Hip Hop and live instrumentation that transforms many musical borders.

We caught up with the incomparable drummer, ?uestlove, to get his thoughts on the band working on a harder more serious album mixing in a lot of vintage synths that haven’t been a part of The Roots sound before.

“No, Roots albums are like snow flakes, you know. No two Roots albums are the same. It’s basically more sonically hard edged. Probably the difference is the use of vintage synthesizers. But pretty much it’s sonically, you know people mistake our ‘Phrenology’ record as the rock record. The ‘Phrenology’ Record was an experimental anti Roots album. This album almost feels like a rock record, but it’s not like hard rock guitars to it, but it’s just a harder more serious record.”

?uestlove also revealed that ‘Rising Down’ isn’t the only album he’s working on at the moment as he is also the producer for the legendary soul singer, The Reverend Al Green’s new album. Green’s upcoming album, which will be released via Blue Note Records, will be Green’s thirty seventh CD, including his greatest hits compilations. ?uestlove also spoke about meeting multiple deadlines and having both products out by the spring of 2008.

“We’re Ninety five percent finished with our record. It’s entitled ‘Rising Down’ and it’ll be out in spring of 2008. We’re actually working on two records right now. We’re producing the incomparable Al Green, his album of which Blue Note is holding me at gun point ‘We want that album turned in by January 20th!’ So yeah, we will have both products out by spring.”

The Roots originally formed in Philadelphia in the early nineties with a lineup that included Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, who were classmates at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. As they began to play at school and on the streets and add more instrumentation to their live sound, they saw their popularity rise. Two collaborations that helped catapult the band to mainstream success were performing as Jay Z’s backing band on MTV’s Unplugged and a duet with Erykah Badu. The song with Badu titled “You Got Me” peaked inside the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and earned The Roots a Grammy award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.