Artist.......: The Roots
Album........: Live au Festival Rock en Seine
Label........: n/a
Genre........: Rap
Catnr........: n/a
Source.......: DVBS
Rip.date.....: jul.-08-2009
Str.date.....: aug.-29-2008
Quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: http://theroots.com/
track title time
01. Live au Festival Rock en Seine 57:10
Rising Down
Long Time
Mellow My Man
Criminal
You Got Me
Get Busy
The Seed
Men @ Work
Runtime 57:10 min
Size 71,68 MB
Release Notes:
Recorded : July 08, 2009 (Virgin 17)
Performed : August 29, 2008 (France)
Though popular success has largely eluded the Roots, the
Philadelphia group showed the way for live rap, building on
Stetsasonic's "hip-hop band" philosophy of the mid-'80s by
focusing on live instrumentation at their concerts and in the
studio. Though their album works have been inconsistent
affairs, more intent on building grooves than pushing songs,
the Roots' live shows are among the best in the business.
The Roots' focus on live music began back in 1987 when rapper
Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir
Khalib Thompson) became friends at the Philadelphia High School
for Creative Performing Arts. Playing around school, on the
sidewalk, and later at talent shows (with ?uestlove's drum kit
backing Black Thought's rhymes), the pair began to earn money
and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leon Hubbard) and rapper Malik
B. Moving from the street to local clubs, the Roots became a
highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York.
When they were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a
concert in Germany, the Roots recorded an album to sell at
shows; the result, Organix, was released in 1993 on Remedy
Records. With a music industry buzz surrounding their
activities, the Roots entertained offers from several labels
before signing with DGC that same year.
The Roots' first major-label album, Do You Want More?!!!??!,
was released in January 1995; forsaking usual hip-hop protocol,
the album was produced without any samples or previously
recorded material. It peaked just outside the Top 100, but was
mostly ignored by fans of hip-hop. Instead, Do You Want
More?!!!??! made more tracks in alternative circles, partly due
to the Roots playing the second stage at Lollapalooza that
summer. The band also journeyed to the Montreux Jazz Festival
in Switzerland. Two of the guests on the album who had toured
around with the band, human beatbox Rahzel the Godfather of
Noyze -- previously a performer with Grandmaster Flash and LL
Cool J -- and Scott Storch (later Kamal), became permanent
members of the group.
Early in 1996, the Roots released Clones, the trailer single
for their second album. It hit the rap Top Five, and created a
good buzz for the album. The following September, Illadelph
Halflife appeared and made number 21 on the album charts. Much
like its predecessor, though, the Roots' second LP was a
difficult listen. It made several very small concessions to
mainstream rap -- the bandmembers sampled material that they
had recorded earlier at jam sessions -- but failed to make a
hit of their unique sound. The Roots' third album, 1999's
Things Fall Apart, was easily their biggest critical and
commercial success; The Roots Come Alive followed later that
year.
The long-awaited Phrenology was released in late November 2002
amid rumors of the Roots losing interest in their label
arrangements with MCA. In 2004, the band remedied the situation
by creating the Okayplayer company. Named after their website,
Okayplayer included a record label and a production/promotion
company. The same year, the band held a series of jam sessions
to give their next album a looser feel. The results were edited
down to ten tracks and released as The Tipping Point in July of
2004. A 2004 concert from Manhattan's Webster Hall with special
guests like Mobb Deep, Young Gunz, and Jean Grae was released
in early 2005 as The Roots Present in both CD and DVD formats.
Two volumes of the rarities-collecting Home Grown! The
Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Roots appeared at the end
of the year. Game Theory, the group's first album for Def Jam,
followed in 2006, and two years later the especially
politically-charged Rising Down came out.