The Roots' original lineup included Black Thought (MC vocals) and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson (drums), who were classmates at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. As they began to play at school and on the streets, they added another MC named Malik B., bassist Leonard Hubbardand keyboardist Scott Storch. Another MC, Dice Raw, frequently made album appearances with the group from 1995 to 1999 before leaving to record a solo album. Scott Storch also left to pursue career as a producer following the Do You Want More?!!!??! album, He produced songs such as Still D.R.E. by Dr Dre. The Roots filled his void with another keyboardist, Kamal who is still a member. A beatboxer named Rahzel also joined the group and contributed from 1995-1999. Alongside Rahzel was vocal turntablist, Scratch who greatly contributed to The Roots' sound, most notably in live concerts. He left the group in 2003. Malik B. left the group in 2000. A guitarist, Ben Kenney, enjoyed a short stint with the group and contributed to their Phrenology album, but left to join Incubus. A percussionist, Knuckles, was added in 2002 and guitarist, Kirk Douglas (a.k.a. "Captain Kirk") repleaced Kenney. A vocalist, Martin Luther toured with The Roots in 2003 and 2004 and contributed to their album The Tipping Point. The current members of The Roots are Black Thought (MC vocals), ?uestlove (drums), Hub (bass), Kamal (keyboard), Knuckles (percussion), and Captain Kirk (guitar).
The Roots' debut album, Organix released in 1993, was actually a live recording from a concert in Germany that the Roots sold at their shows. The album earned enough industry buzz to earn the Roots offers from major record labels, and they signed with DGC records, which at the time was better known for its grunge music releases.
The Roots' first album for DGC, Do You Want More?!!!??! (recorded live without the use of samples), was a moderate hit on alternative radio. Their 1996 release Illadelph Halflife was the group's first album to crack the Top 40 on Billboard's album chart, spurred in part by MTV's airplay of the video for "What They Do", a parody of rap video clichés such as the "beatdown shot," and "Clones" which was their first to single to reach the top five on the rap charts.
In 1999, The Roots released Things Fall Apart (named after a novel by Chinua Achebe), their breakthrough album. The track "You Got Me", duet with R'n'B singer Erykah Badu, earned them a Grammy award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group.
In 2000, Dice Raw left the group to record his solo debut album, Reclaiming the Dead.
The Roots' reputation as a hip-hop live band made Jay-Z call on them for his MTV Unplugged album in 2002. The album featured good recreations of many of his great songs, played by the band with a little help from female vocalist Jaguar Wright.
2002's Phrenology introduced a more mainstream sound for the Roots, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. The album's sales were boosted by radio and TV airplay for two duets on the album, "Break You Off" (featuring Musiq Soulchild) and "The Seed 2.0" (featuring Cody ChestnuTT). The video for "The Seed 2.0" earned a nomination for the MTV2 Award at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. "The Seed" was also featured on the soundtrack to the Mandy Moore movie Chasing Liberty. Phrenology was certified gold (signifying U.S. sales of at least 500,000 units) in June 2003.
The Roots' 2004 release, The Tipping Point, took its name from a 2000 book by Malcolm Gladwell. The album earned two more Grammy nominations: one for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track "Star", and another for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for the track "Don't Say Nuthin'". The album was an immediate hit, debuting at #4 on the Billboard album chart and selling over 100,000 copies in its first week of release.
On November 15, 2005 The Roots released two compilation albums, Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide To Understanding The Roots, Volumes 1 & 2. These two separately sold discs are a compilation of past hits, live performances, and rare remixes compiled by ?uestlove himself. They also feature 70 pages of liner notes written by ?uestlove. These two albums marked the Roots' last releases on Geffen Records.
The Roots' album, Game Theory, was released on August 29, 2006. The album, which features a track that samples the song "You and Whose Army" by Radiohead, was released on Jay-Z's Def Jam.
The Roots next album 'Rising Down' was released on April 29th 2008. Features tracks with Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Saigon, and other greats.
The Make Me Songfacts reports that The Roots' eleventh album, undun, is their first concept album. It tells the story of a man called Redford Stephens who died in 1999 at the age of 25. We hear Redford retelling his life post-mortem and attempting to deconstruct what led to his undoing.
The Roots are also the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon airing first on March 2nd, 2009.
Popcorn
The Roots Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So the Black Thought gots to get down y'all, yeah
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one's comin around
So The Square Roots gotta get down, bust it
Just to accompany some audio distortion
Bust the popcorn, drop it onto my cassette and
bust it, Kid Crumbs, how ya feel? (I'm feelin blessed man)
Yeah, The Square Roots be the setters of examples
Findin rhythm in the static of your samples
Makin you move to the groove as we sooth
the ear of the listener on the musical
Prisoner G, now you're free you can be all you wanna be
Go where you want or go and see all you wanna see
Because yo, your ambitions I won't neglect
And to the brothers who ain't here, nuff respect
So BROther quest, how ya livin, what ya givin black?
To me the brother with the linens and the applejack;
busy til the break of dawn
The first verse is poured I pass the popcorn
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
So the Black Thought had to get down y'all, yeah
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
Question would you come and get down, bust it, come on
Check it out, secondly
it's me the BROther ?uest from the S-Q-T (Square Roots)
And he's Black Thought, the boy you know is funky
The rhythms I recycle sometimes prehistoric
The mic for the popcorn's like it's metaphoric (metaphoric baby)
So many different factors in the question's style
Arrhythmic by the end, I'm givin more than one child
Abstract soloist comin from the heart
All the way from Philly, from the West part
Relax your mind and let your body be at rest
Flow in slow mo', and let the BROther manifest
Now the second verse has been pourin
On to Kid Crumb I pass the popcorn
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
Question ripped the set and got down baby, yeah
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
Kid Crumbs would you come and get down, come on
Blessed is the next at the second still before the 4th is passed
I'm gassed off the edible raps, and that's illegible
Tommy used to bug, when I come around
Screamin at the top of my lungs, you gots to get down
Now, they heard the sound and wanna give the kid a pound
on the down low *whispering* Relax baby, keep it underground yo
From the crown of notty hair that I wear to the funk feet
Wonder why the sisters dig the brother missin five teeth
Peace I gots to rock so pass the popcorn and shit
Quick to lick a shot to umm, Wheezy, and Cricket
Used to kick it in the house until I got myself evicted
Now The Crumbs is restricted to the popcorn, elected
from The Roots, I griff the rest and share the stash of popcorn
Back to Black Thought, rock on (and on)
And on (and on) and on (and on)
And on (and on), pass the popcorn!
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
Kid Crumbs ripped the set and got down Baby Pah!
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one comin around
Black Thought, you know I gotta get down, bust it, yo
Honey, glazed, amazed at the art Black Thought dis-plays
I get mad props and the compliment pays
Makin me more funky and it shows on stage
Word right BROther cause I'm goin through a phase
I wanna be a pioneer so trails I blaze
Straight past the days when I used to be enslaved
But don't eat all the popcorn BROther ?uest (What?)
Yo BROther ?uest say it
A bit for my hit makin it legitimate and give
credit to the attitude you set it don't forget well it's
gotta be live, cause that's the way I'm rockin it and
pop-corn is in my pocket then I guess it's rockin yo
the S-Q-T'n, Black Thought of seeing
I know you're all agreeing, I'm rocking and I'm being
Ripping another chapter, just for you to clap ta
To the sounds of vexed I make you step just like a camper
I pass, the popcorn, the mix I drop on the mic
gon', have you hummin my song, all the way home
It's cool and as long, as you and the song, be mellowin out
together cause it's kind of peace I'm not embarrased
as I pass the popcorn, and get off the dome
Yo BROther ?uestion, yo Rubber Bandz Square Roots
take it home
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When the Foreign Objects get down y'all, yeah
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When Crumbs and the Po'Fo' gets down, yo
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When my man Malik Blunt gets down y'all, c'mon
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When my man The Rubber Bandz gets down y'all, c'mon
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When the BROther ?uestion gets down, yo
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
It looks like another one's comin around
When the group MU6 gets down, and yo
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
It looks like another one's comin around
And when the man Black Thought gets down
It looks like another one's comin around
When my man Mr. Crumbs gets down
It looks like another one's comin around (shut up!)
The Roots' song Pass The Popcorn is a celebration of collaboration, creativity and community in the world of hip-hop, and a reminder that music is about having fun and enjoying life. The song features multiple MCs taking turns to spit rhymes over a catchy beat, and the chorus (Pass the what? Pass the popcorn!) is a call to party and share the love. Black Thought opens the song with the line "It looks like another one's comin' around," suggesting that there's another party, performance, or opportunity for creativity on the horizon, and that The Roots are ready to seize it. The verses that follow showcase the individuality, skill, and humor of each MC, from Questlove's rhythmic complexity and poetic wordplay to Kid Crumbs' tongue-twisting flow and witty asides.
Throughout the song, The Roots use food metaphors to describe their music and their approach to life. They "bust" the popcorn onto their cassettes and "griff" the rest to share, implying that their music is a delicious treat that everyone should enjoy. They also use food to describe their own identities and experiences, such as Black Thought's "notty hair" and missing teeth, which suggest a rough-hewn authenticity and a refusal to conform to mainstream standards of beauty. The song ends with a series of shoutouts to fellow MCs and music groups, emphasizing the sense of community and mutual support that is essential to hip-hop culture.
Line by Line Meaning
It looks like another one's comin around
There is a new opportunity or challenge approaching
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Let's get ready for some entertainment
Yo, I wrote this, basement, Never Never Tunnels type portion
I created this song in an underground setting
Bust the popcorn, drop it onto my cassette and bust it, Kid Crumbs, how ya feel? (I'm feelin blessed man)
Record this song and let's get grooving; Kid Crumbs is feeling good
Findin rhythm in the static of your samples
Creating music out of any sound or source available
Makin you move to the groove as we sooth the ear of the listener on the musical
We aim to create music that is both catchy and relaxing
So BROther quest, how ya livin, what ya givin black?
How are you doing? What are you contributing to society?
To me the brother with the linens and the applejack; busy til the break of dawn
He is a hard-working man with a distinct sense of style
Pass the what? (Pass the popcorn)
Let's keep the entertainment going
It's me the BROther ?uest from the S-Q-T (Square Roots)
I am a member of the Square Roots
The rhythms I recycle sometimes prehistoric
My music may be old-fashioned but still enjoyable
Abstract soloist comin from the heart
I create unique and heartfelt music
Relax your mind and let your body be at rest
Take a break and enjoy this moment
Honey, glazed, amazed at the art Black Thought dis-plays
The audience is impressed by Black Thought's performance
Makin me more funky and it shows on stage
The positive feedback from fans is reflected in my performance
Take it home
Bring it to a successful close
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mike Ball
on Proceed V (Da Beatminerz remix)
So after purchasing “Do You Want More” the day it dropped, my guy the upped me from jump (pass the popcorn obvi) found this join on a European release and pressed play…the rest is history. But there in lies my question…what IS the history, the story on how, where, when, this was created? I need to know for context. Drop a link if there is one out there PLEASE! V 5 is a masterpiece!