Amidst The Roots' busy schedule, from performing as the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to recently fronting a Pre-Emmy Awards jam session, the legendary crew has returned with their latest musical creation, a new album entitled undun (Island Def Jam). Set for release on December 6, 2011, undun marks the first conceptually-based album from The Roots and quickly reaffirms the creativity of the outfit that are notorious for pushing the envelope. The album's first single, "Make My" featuring Big K.I.R.T. is set for release November 1st on iTunes. In addition to their new album, The Roots are set to perform in New York City on November 29th and 30th and December 5th at the Highline Ballroom.

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?"

To call it "long-awaited" or "eagerly anticipated" would be the understatement of the year - as hip-hop's most daring pioneers the Roots release their 9th studio album (and third for Def Jam Recordings) on June 22nd, HOW I GOT OVER. The album, which takes its name from Clara Ward's gospel classic (made popular by Mahalia Jackson), is the Roots' first new release since joining Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for a full time gig as the show's house band.

Grammy Award winners the Roots characterize the songs on HOW I GOT OVER as "depicting the everyman's search for hope in this dispiriting post-hope zeitgeist".

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.

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No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: ROOTS
Title: PHRENOLOGY
Street Release Date: 11/26/2002
Domestic
Genre: RAP/HIP HOP

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International pressing of the 2006 album features one bonus track: 'Bread And Butter'. The Roots, known for their innovative album concepts, return after a two year break to release their new album, Game Theory, filled with 14 hard hitting tracks that express their views on the state of the world. Game Theory is The Roots’ most thought-provoking, incisive album since their 1999 breakthrough Things Fall Apart and will be the group’s debut for Def Jam Recordings, home to the world’s premiere Hip-Hop artists.

UK pressing of the alternative rap act's 2004 album includes one bonus track 'Melting Pot'. Universal.

Musical powerhouses John Legend & The Roots present Wake Up!, eleven profoundly evocative songs pulled from the soulful music of the 60's and 70's all with an underlying theme of awareness, engagement and consciousness. The album is highlighted with familiar tracks like "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway mixed with more obscure selections like Baby Huey and the Babysitters' "Hard Times". Wake Up! also includes one original composition, John Legend's "Shine," which is featured in the upcoming documentary Waiting For Superman.