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The Roots plunge beyond radio-friendly party songs and into the depths of jazz-infused hip-hop with political swagger.
No wonder college crowds groove to the band's relentless jams and commentaries. For starters, The Roots reject the genre's often-heralded misogyny and cash-obsessed grandiosity to peer hard at societal wounds like drug addiction, violence and prison culture. They don't ask you to wave your hands in the air so much as to think and dance at the same time. Eddy Ozoma spearheaded efforts to get the band to Anchorage a few years ago while on the Concert Board of the University of Alaska Anchorage. Now a graduate, he bought his ticket early and eagerly. He used to hear The Roots as a kid but didn't get really hooked until he picked up 2002's "Phrenology," an album that made commercial headway. From then on, he picked up every album he could."They don't get preachy," Ozoma said. "They just point out problems that need to be solved."And they do it with skilled instrumentation and a biting wit. The Grammy award-winning band's 2008 release, "Rising Down," dishes out rapid-fire lyrics in an array of songs ranging from the layered jazz beats of the title track to the drum-driven snarl of "75 Bars" and the almost mocking pop hook of "Birthday Girl."Roots' co-founder Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson recently called "Rising Down" the most political album in the band's arsenal but also described it as upbeat.Aside from "?uestlove" on drums, the band includes co-founder Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter on vocals, Kamal Gray on keyboards, Frank Knuckles on percussion, Kirk "Captain Kirk" Douglas on guitar and Owen Biddle on bass. John Kendall, music manager for UAA radio station KRUA The Edge 88.1 FM, knows more about the band than its music. He stays on top of music news and saw The Roots play several years ago. The band deserves whatever buzz it gets, he said. "They're different than most hip-hop groups," Kendall explained. "A lot of them have a few guys with mikes and a DJ in the back, but The Roots kind of do both, like a hip-hop act and rock band in one." Trotter and Thompson formed the band loosely in 1987 after meeting at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. They played as The Roots several years later and quickly gained a fan base in alternative music circles. A student-approved fee increase made the concert possible. "The only reason we got The Roots here was because the Concert Board lobbied effectively to get the student fee passed," said Paul Flahive, station manager for KRUA. "This is the first test drive in what students want to hear."Everyone at the station bought tickets, he said, but "I wouldn't say it's on par with Elton John, which was amazingly popular with the same people. Maybe Anchorage is so deprived that any big act that comes draws a crowd."People tend to flock to music they feel familiar with, but The Roots put on a good show no matter one's knowledge of its recorded music, Kendall said. College students already know The Roots' reputation, and fans like Ozoma pass the word wherever they can."People are extremely excited about this concert," he said. "I've told quite a few people, some new fans and others who don't even listen to hip-hop, and they're all stoked about it."Music fans bored with the usual fodder know what they've been waiting for, as The Roots sing in "Rising Up," "Yesterday I saw a B-girl crying; yesterday I saw a B-girl crying/ I walked up and asked what's wrong/ She told me that the radio's been playing the same song all day long/ So I told her I got something you've been waiting for/ I got something you've been waiting for."