The Roots last released an album a full decade ago, but momentum surrounding a follow-up project has been renewed thanks to Common and Pete Rock.
While interviewing the duo on his Questlove Supreme podcast, drummer/band leader Questlove explained how Common and Pete’s joint album The Auditorium Vol. 1 has put a battery in his and Black Thought‘s backs when it comes to The Roots’ long-awaited 15th LP.
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“I believe that this particular album will spark a renaissance,” he said of The Auditorium Vol. 1 before mentioning other anticipated releases from rap veterans such as Nas and DJ Premier, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, and De La Soul, DJ Premier and Pete Rock.
“Not to be outdone, my band has been sitting on the sidelines watching all this action happening and, you know, it’s made us… I will say that it’s made Tariq [Black Thought] into — the muthafucka wrote seven songs in one day! We have not done that since our second album.”
Later in the episode, Questlove elaborated on the impact that Common and Pete Rock’s album has had on Black Thought.
“[I walked into the room] and was like, ‘Yo, dawg. You ain’t gonna believe this but Rash [Common] and Pete made the perfect summit meeting record. No person’s outshining the other person. Everything’s [equal].’ I was just going off about it and I could tell I planted a seed,” he said.
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“But then — I think after the Hollywood Bowl performance that we did — I think that lit something under Tariq. I mean, I can say in the last two weeks, he’s knocked off at least eighty percent.
“I mean, back in, like, Do You Want More?!!!??! days, ‘Riq would write, like, six or seven songs in a setting. This album is definitely, like — it’s probably what he’s working on right now as I speak. It’s inspiring.”
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The Philadelphia native then offered an update on the album’s long-awaited release, saying: “I know the exact date when I want to release it, and it’s not 2024. But it’s a very seminal 2025 date that will make sense once it comes out.”
It’s possible that Quest was hinting at January 17, which marks the 30th anniversary of The Roots’ aforementioned album Do You Want More?!!!??!
The legendary Philadelphia crew have long been teasing a new album, tentatively titled End Game.
In late 2022, they treated fans to a first audio sample by letting Hot 97’s Funk Flex premiere a new song called “Misunderstood” featuring longtime collaborator Erykah Badu and fellow Philly native Tierra Whack, although the track has yet to receive an official release.
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In an interview with HipHopDX the following year, Black Thought revealed that the group had recorded tons of material for the album but were not yet finished.
“We’re a lot closer to a new Roots album,” he said. “What I always say is: on the day that Questlove decides to say, ‘Hey, the album is done,’ then it’s done. It’s not like we have to get underway, the ball has been rolling. There are many songs recorded, many verses written, many a production. A couple of the songs are already mixed.
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“But yeah, it’s not done until it feels complete and until it speaks to and tells whatever story it is we’re trying to tell. And I think the more time that passes, the more of a gap there is to catch folks up on, and I think there’s something in that, in wanting to just be complete in our return.”
He concluded: “So yeah, the new Roots album is definitely coming. I think you’re gonna likely see a new Black Thought album or two before the new Roots album just because those are the records that I have the final say about.”
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End Game, if that remains the final title, will serve as the follow-up to …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin which arrived in May 2014.
