There are some millennial artists that I totally get and understand, and I know what they're talking about. People who I've worked with and who I'd like to work with. But there's a whole element of artists that I can't explain what they're talking about.
Lots of people are saying that I shut down mumble rap in one 10-minute setting. But that wasn't my intention, because mumble rap - if we go back - that's something I invented.
I was raised as a Muslim.
I grew up in Mount Airy, a middle-class enclave in the Northwestern area of Philadelphia.
The most profound memory I have from my childhood is burning down my house at 6 years old.
The Roots brand is like the Lipton of hip-hop, so to speak.
Some of my favorites are the classics like 'What They Do,' 'Proceed,' 'You Got Me,' and 'Silent Treatment.'
Nah, I don't feel overlooked, underappreciated, or none of that because it's a short list of artists, past and present, that I kind of have respect for. And in all of those situations, the admiration and respect is mutual.
I feel like I've been around for such a long time, as a writer and as an artist, that I need to sort of speak to the way that my perception of the world has sort of changed.
I got a family to take care of and kids to feed. That's my motivation, this is my job.
I strive for improvement. want to be a master of my craft.
I want to be at the top of my game.
The Roots - we signed our first record deal when I was about 19 years old.
By the time I was, you know, 16 years old, I had done a lot of growing up.
For me, I'm a super private person.
I'll read a book. I'll watch a documentary or a film or whatever. I'll go to an art exhibit and just try and open myself to influence.
We've always been a band that intentionally transcended race and age.
The Roots are well-respected and considered vanguards in the music.
I think at the end of the day the diversity has served as a major… that's what has determined the difference between The Roots and some of the other artists from our graduating class. I feel we followed the De La Soul, the Native Tongue blueprint.
I've become a functioning cog in the machine called The Roots, but in my youth I was comin' from a more braggadocious, egotistical perspective.
