The Roots just commemorated the thirtieth anniversary of their first major-label studio album Do You Want More?!!!??! and the group announced that they’ll be celebrating with a string of shows at the Blue Note in New York City.
Group members Questlove and Black Thought — the only two remaining from that era of the band — announced the shows on Instagram. They said that during the six shows over three nights (March 13-15), they would be playing material from the album, but would not be performing it in its entirety.
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Do You Want More?!!!??! was the second album from The Roots, but their debut, 1993’s Organix, was independently released.
DYWM, Questlove said in the IG post announcing the shows, was “the first album that allowed us to make 13, 14, 15, 16 albums.”
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Check the post below.
The Roots haven’t released an album in over a decade, since 2014’s …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin. 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 last summer, 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.”
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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.
“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.”
