The discography of
The Roots, an American
hip hop band, consists of fourteen
studio albums, plus three collaborative studio albums, three compilation albums, two
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. s, and two live albums. The Roots began performing in 1989 as The Square Roots with rapper
Black Thought
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded a ...
and drummer
Questlove. Rapper
Malik B., and bassist
Leonard Hubbard joined the band in 1991.
Over its history, Questlove and Black Thought have always remained with The Roots while their lineup of backing musicians has changed.
In 1993, The Roots debuted with independently released album ''
Organix'', and signed to
DGC Records
DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by the Universal Music Group.
History
DGC Records was launched in 1990 as a subsi ...
(later
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...
) that same year. The Roots' debuted on Geffen with ''
Do You Want More?!!!??!
''Do You Want More?!!!??!'' is the second studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released January 17, 1995 on DGC Records. The band's major label-debut, it was released two years after their independent debut album, '' Organix'' (1993 ...
'', an album that was unique in hip hop for using no sampling, and being embraced more by fans of alternative rock than fans of hip hop.
''Do You Want More?!!!??!'' peaked at only number 104 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart in the US.
''
Illadelph Halflife
''Illadelph Halflife'' is the third studio album by American hip hop band the Roots, released September 24, 1996 on DGC and Geffen Records. It features a tougher and broader sound than their previous album, '' Do You Want More?!!!??!'' (1995). Th ...
'', the third album by the Roots, peaked at number twenty-one on the ''Billboard'' 200.
In 1999, The Roots' fourth album ''
Things Fall Apart
''Things Fall Apart'' is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. It is seen as the ...
'' became the band's biggest success. The album was certified gold in the US,
and its single "
You Got Me" peaked at number thirty-nine on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number nineteen on the
Hot Rap Tracks
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...
chart.
"You Got Me" won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2000.
In 2002, The Roots released ''
Phrenology'', which contained the band's second single to chart on the Hot 100. "Break You Off", which featured
Musiq Soulchild
Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel influences fused w ...
, peaked at number ninety-nine.
The Roots founded the company
Okayplayer, and released ''
The Tipping Point
''The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'' is the debut book by Malcolm Gladwell, first published by Little, Brown in 2000. Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling po ...
'' in 2004.
In 2006, The Roots signed to
Def Jam, and released ''
Game Theory'' under Def Jam and ''
Rising Down
''Rising Down'' is the eighth studio album by the American hip hop band The Roots, released on April 28, 2008, on Def Jam Recordings. The album's title is adapted from William T. Vollmann's book '' Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Viol ...
'' in 2008; the band's album ''
How I Got Over
"How I Got Over" is a Gospel hymn composed and published in 1951 by Clara Ward (1924–1973). Notable recordings of this work have been made by Mahalia Jackson (1961, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1976), and t ...
'' was released in 2010. The Roots released two live concert albums, the first being ''
The Roots Come Alive
''The Roots Come Alive'' is a live album from the group The Roots.
It was recorded in Zurich, Switzerland; New York City; and other places and released November 2, 1999. An enhanced double-CD edition containing six extra tracks, music videos ...
'' in 2000, and the next ''The Roots Present'' in 2005. In 2009, The Roots became the house band for the late-night show ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' and in 2014, upon Fallon's take over of ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'', The Roots moved to that series.
Albums
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
Extended plays
Singles
*A. Charted only on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles or Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles charts, 25-song extensions to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively.
*B. Charted only on the
Hot Singles Sales
This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...
or
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts.
*C. Charted only on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs chart.
Other appearances
Music videos
*1993: "Pass the Popcorn" (as The Square Roots)
*1994: "Distortion to Static"
*1994: "Proceed"
*1994: "Proceed II"
*1995: "Silent Treatment"
*1996: "Clones"
*1996: "Concerto of the Desperado"
*1996: "What They Do"
*1999: "You Got Me"
*1999: "The Next Movement"
*1999: "What You Want"
*2000: "Glitches"
*2002: "Break You Off"
*2003: "The Seed 2.0"
*2004: "Don't Say Nothin'"
*2004: "Star"
*2004: "I Don't Care"
*2006: "In the Music/Here I Come/Don't Feel Right"
*2008: "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)"
*2008: "Get Busy"
*2008: "Birthday Girl"
*2008: "Rising Up"
*2009: "How I Got Over"
*2010: "Dear God 2.0"
*2010: "The Fire"
*2010: "Hard Times (Studio Video)"
*2010: "I Can't Write Left Handed (Studio Video)"
*2010: "Wake Up Everybody"
*2011: "Undun: The Short Clips ("Make My", "Stomp", "Tip The Scale", "Sleep")
*2014: "When the People Cheer"
*2014: "Understand"
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roots
Roots, The
Hip hop discographies
Rhythm and blues discographies
Discography
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...