American hip hop band

The Roots

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Intro

American hip hop band

Genres

Hip hop music Alternative hip hop Political hip hop Alternative rock Rock music Hip hop music Soul music Funk Neo soul Jazz rap Alternative hip hop Jazz

Record Labels

Geffen Records DGC Records Interscope Records MCA Records Interscope Geffen A&M Universal Music Group Def Jam Recordings The Island Def Jam Music Group

Awards Received

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group

Grammy Award for Best R&B Album

Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group

Nominated For

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy Award for Best Rap Album Grammy Award for Best Rap Album BET Award for Best Group MTV Video Music Award – MTV2 Award NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group BET Award for Best Group NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group Grammy Award for Best Rap Album Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group BET Award for Best Group Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance Grammy Award for Best Rap Album Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance Grammy Award for Best R&B Album Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance Grammy Award for Best Rap Album NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group

Music

News

Members, past and present

Questlove

Black Thought

Malik B.

The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, having served in the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from 2009 to 2014.

The Roots are known for a jazzy and eclectic approach to hip-hop featuring live musical instruments and the group's work has consistently been met with critical acclaim. ThoughtCo ranked the band #7 on its list of the 25 Best Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time, calling them "Hip-hop's first legitimate band."

In addition to the band's music, several members of the Roots are involved in side projects, including record production, acting, and regularly serving as guests on other musicians’ albums and live shows.