undun is an existential re-telling of the short life of one Redford Stephens (1974-1999). Through the use of emotives and Redford’s internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out ‘on the corner’. Utilizing a reverse narrative arc, the album begins as the listener finds Redford disoriented–postmortem–and attempting to make sense of his former life. As he moves through its pivotal moments he begins to deconstruct all that has led to his (and our own) coming undun.

“At this point in our career we’d like for our work to have a unifying theme, and an experiential quality,” says Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, 40. “We’ve been intentionally making our albums shorter in length so that they can be experienced as a continuous work. The music is band-oriented with an eye on the moody cinematic. As a DJ, I am the King of playlists, but I don’t want our albums to feel like a playlist or a mixtape for that matter. We want to tell stories that work within the album format and we want the stories to be nuanced and useful to people. undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner like Tupac’s character Bishop in “Juice”… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?”

TRACKLISTING:
1) Sleep
2) Make My
3) One Time
4) Kool On
5) The Jump
6) Stomp
7) Lighthouse
I Remember
9) Tip The Scale
10) Redford

Formed in 1987, in Philadelphia, PA, the legendary Roots Crew, consists of Black Thought (MC), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (drums), Kamal Gray (electronic keyboards), F. Knuckles (percussion), Captain Kirk Doublas (electronic guitar), Damon Bryson (sousaphone) and James Poyser (electronic keyboard) Having previously released twelve projects, The Roots have become one of the best known and most respected hip-hop acts in the business, winning four GRAMMYs, most recently for Best R&B Album for Wake Up!, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “Hang in There” (with John Legend) and Best Group or Duo R&B Vocal Performance for Shine. Additionally, The Roots have also become the faces of Philly’s Fourth of July Jam, an annual concert held during the Fourth of July with the biggest names in music, and The Roots Jam Session, a yearly star-studded mix of musicians, that has become a celebrated institution during awards season. In 2009, The Roots, named one of the greatest live bands around by both Spin and Rolling Stone, became the official house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where they currently perform every Monday- Friday.

The lead single from the Roots new set will be “Dear God 2.0.” The track re-imagines the Monsters Of Folk song “Dear God” and features MOF members Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes and M. Ward. HOW I GOT OVER also includes two appearances from Grammy-winning soul man John Legend: “Doin’ It Again” a re-working of his track “Again,” and “The Fire,” an original song written for the Roots’ 2010 Olympic concert performance.

The Roots and Legend have developed a strong musical bond, as the group has produced John’s entire upcoming release Wake Up, which shares the socially conscious themes of the “How I Got Over” set and is comprised of late sixties/early seventies covers. Other guests on HIGO include Joanna Newsom on “Right On,” Phonte Coleman (Little Brother, The Foreign Exchange), Blu (Blu & Exile), Peedi Peedi , Mercedes Martinez, Icelandic alt-pop singer Patty Crash, newcomer Sugar Tongue Slim as well as long time Roots’ Crew members Dice Raw, Truck North and P.O.R.N.

More than two decades after ‘?uestlove’ and ‘Black Thought’ first met under nefarious circumstances in the principal’s office of Philadelphia’s High School For the Creative and Performing Arts – and over 15 years since the Roots recorded their indie debut album in 1993, in preparation for a year-long European sojourn – the group and its intelligent school of jazz-inflected hip-hop are more relevant than ever. HOW I GOT OVER is the follow-up to Rising Down (released April 2008), praised by Rolling Stone more than a month before the album’s release, for spewing “rhymes from the perspective of the poor and the dispossessed, from North Philly to Liberia.” Rising Down’s guests list included Common on “The Show” (with Dice Raw); original Roots rapper Malik B. on “Lost Desire” (with Brooklyn’s Talib Kweli) and “I Can’t Help It”; and fellow Def Jam R&B singer Chrisette Michele and Washington D.C. rapper Wale on the lighthearted closing track, “Rising Up.” Philadelphia hip-hop voices Dice Raw, Truck North, Porn, and Peedi Peedi appear throughout, as well as Mercedes Martinez of the Jazzyfatnastees.

The Roots’ previous Def Jam album was their label debut, Game Theory (August 2006) which was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Rap Album. Its first single, “Don’t Feel Right” was nominated the same year for Best Rap Performance By a Duo/Group. The Roots won their first Grammy Award, Best Rap Performance By a Duo/Group, for 1999′s “You Got Me” (featuring Erykah Badu and Eve) from the album Things Fall Apart. Today’s Roots are vocalist ‘Black Thought’ and drummer ‘?uestlove,’ long-time keyboardist Kamal Gray (a member since 1996′s Illadelph Halflife), Brooklyn-based guitarist Kirk ‘Captain Kirk’ Douglas, percussionist Frank Knuckles (both members since 2003-2004′s The Tipping Point sessions), Damon ‘Tuba Gooding Jr.’ Bryson, who joined the lineup after touring with the band in 2007 and the bands newest member Owen Biddle on bass (a producer on the 2006 Game Theory sessions, the Roots’ Def Jam debut).

TRACK LISTING
1) Walk Alone (Truck North, Porn, Dice Raw,Mercedes Martinez)
2) Dear God 2.0 (Jim James, MOF)
3) Radio Daze (Blu, Porn, Dice Raw, Mercedes Martinez)
4) Now Or Never (Phonte Coleman, Dice Raw)
5 )How I Got Over (Dice Raw)
6) The Day (Blu, Phonte Coleman, Patty Crash)
7) Right On (Joanna Newsom, Sugar Tongue Slim)
Doin It Again (John Legend)
9) The Fire (John Legend, Rick Friedrich)

The lead single from the Roots new set will be “Dear God 2.0.” The track re-imagines the Monsters Of Folk song “Dear God” and features MOF members Yim Yames from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes and M. Ward. HOW I GOT OVER also includes two appearances from Grammy-winning soul man John Legend: “Doin’ It Again” a re-working of his track “Again,” and “The Fire,” an original song written for the Roots’ 2010 Olympic concert performance.
The Roots and Legend have developed a strong musical bond, as the group has produced John’s entire upcoming release Wake Up, which shares the socially conscious themes of the “How I Got Over” set and is comprised of late sixties/early seventies covers.
Other guests on HIGO include Joanna Newsom on “Right On,” Phonte Coleman (Little Brother, The Foreign Exchange), Blu (Blu & Exile), Peedi Peedi , Mercedes Martinez, Icelandic alt-pop singer Patty Crash, newcomer Sugar Tongue Slim as well as long time Roots’ Crew members Dice Raw, Truck North and P.O.R.N.

More than two decades after ‘?uestlove’ and ‘Black Thought’ first met under nefarious circumstances in the principal’s office of Philadelphia’s High School For the Creative and Performing Arts – and over 15 years since the Roots recorded their indie debut album in 1993, in preparation for a year-long European sojourn – the group and its intelligent school of jazz-inflected hip-hop are more relevant than ever.

HOW I GOT OVER is the follow-up to Rising Down (released April 2008), praised by Rolling Stone more than a month before the album’s release, for spewing “rhymes from the perspective of the poor and the dispossessed, from North Philly to Liberia.” Rising Down’s guests list included Common on “The Show” (with Dice Raw); original Roots rapper Malik B. on “Lost Desire” (with Brooklyn’s Talib Kweli) and “I Can’t Help It”; and fellow Def Jam R&B singer Chrisette Michele and Washington D.C. rapper Wale on the lighthearted closing track, “Rising Up.” Philadelphia hip-hop voices Dice Raw, Truck North, Porn, and Peedi Peedi appear throughout, as well as Mercedes Martinez of the Jazzyfatnastees.

The Roots’ previous Def Jam album was their label debut, Game Theory (August 2006) which was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Rap Album. Its first single, “Don’t Feel Right” was nominated the same year for Best Rap Performance By a Duo/Group. The Roots won their first Grammy Award, Best Rap Performance By a Duo/Group, for 1999’s “You Got Me” (featuring Erykah Badu and Eve) from the album Things Fall Apart.

Today’s Roots are vocalist ‘Black Thought’ and drummer ‘?uestlove,’ long-time keyboardist Kamal Gray (a member since 1996’s Illadelph Halflife), Brooklyn-based guitarist Kirk ‘Captain Kirk’ Douglas, percussionist Frank Knuckles (both members since 2003-2004’s The Tipping Point sessions), Damon ‘Tuba Gooding Jr.’ Bryson, who joined the lineup after touring with the band in 2007 and the bands newest member Owen Biddle on bass (a producer on the 2006 Game Theory sessions, the Roots’ Def Jam debut).

TRACK LISTING
1) Walk Alone (Truck North, Porn, Dice Raw,Mercedes Martinez)
2) Dear God 2.0 (Jim James, MOF)
3) Radio Daze (Blu, Porn, Dice Raw, Mercedes Martinez)
4) Now Or Never (Phonte Coleman, Dice Raw)
5 )How I Got Over (Dice Raw)
6) The Day (Blu, Phonte Coleman, Patty Crash)
7) Right On (Joanna Newsom, Sugar Tongue Slim)
Doin It Again (John Legend)
9) The Fire (John Legend, Rick Friedrich)

Two decades after Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson and Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter first met under nefarious circumstances in the principal’s office of Philadelphia’s High School For the Creative and Performing Arts – and 15 years after the Roots recorded their indie debut album in 1993, during a year-long European sojourn – the group and its intelligent school of jazz-inflected hip-hop are more relevant than ever. RISING DOWN, their tenth overall career album, spews “rhymes from the perspective of the poor and the dispossessed, from North Philly to Liberia,” observed Rolling Stone, more than a month before the album’s release.

“On the title track,” the magazine went on, Black Thought “trades rhymes about global warming and the pharmaceutical industry with Mos Def and Styles P, backed by atmos­pheric synths and a heavy, raw beat that evokes the chaotic grind of modern life. ‘Criminal,’ with verses from Saigon and Philadelphia newcomer Truck North, describes the conditions that lead young men to violence, including poverty and police brutality. ‘Singing Man’ features verses from the perspective of the Virginia Tech shooter, a child soldier in Liberia, and a suicide bomber… Ten albums in, the Roots aren’t afraid to stray from the mainstream hip-hop pack.”

Other major guests on RISING DOWN include Common on “The Show” (with Dice Raw); original Roots rapper Malik B. on “Lost Desire” (with Brooklyn’s Talib Kweli) and “I Can’t Help It”; and fellow Def Jam R&B singer Chrisette Michele and Washington D.C. rapper Wale on the lighthearted closing track, “Rising Up.” Philadelphia hip-hop voices Dice Raw, Truck North, Porn, and Peedi Peedi appear throughout, as well as Mercedes Martinez.

True to form, the Roots released RISING DOWN on April 29th, the 16th anniversary of the first day of Los Angeles riots sparked by the acquittal of the police officers accused of beating Rodney King. The album title paraphrases Rising Up and Rising Down, the massive seven-volume 3,300-page treatise on the world’s centuries-long path of violence, written over the course of more than 20 years by William T. Vollmann.

Today’s Roots are vocalist ‘Black Thought’ and drummer ‘?uestlove,’ long-time keyboardist Kamal Gray (a member since 1996’s Illadelph Halflife), Brooklyn-based guitarist Kirk ‘Captain Kirk’ Douglas and percussionist Frank Knuckles (both members since 2003-2004’s The Tipping Point sessions), sousaphone player Damon “Tuba Gooding, Jr.” Bryson, and newest member Owen Biddle on bass (who joined for the 2006 Game Theory sessions, the Roots’ Def Jam debut).

THE ROOTS ON TOUR WITH GYM CLASS HEROES & ESTELLE

Date City Venue

Oct. 3 G Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head

4 Norfolk, VA NorVa

5 Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues

6 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

7 Lake Buena Vista, FL House Of Blues

8 Miami Beach, FL Fillmore

10 R Horse Shoe, NC Deerfields

11 G Dallas, TX Palladium

12 Austin, TX Backyard

14 G Tempe, AZ Marquee

15 G San Diego, CA San Diego State U.

16 Anaheim, CA The Grove

17 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium

18 San Jose, CA San Jose U. Event Ctr.

19 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues

21 Denver, CO Fillmore

23 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom

24 Chicago, IL Congress Theatre

25 Detroit, MI Fillmore

26 Toronto, Ont. Sound Academy

28-29 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom

30 Worchester, MA Palladium

31 Asbury Park, NJ Convention Hall

Nov. 1 Albany, NY Washington Ave. Academy

G indicates date with Gym Class Heroes only (not Estelle).

R indicates date by The Roots only.