The Roots will soon be celebrating their 30th year together as a group, a massive milestone that demonstrates their creative power as a unit.
Questlove took to Twitter on Monday (May 2) to both ruminate on this achievement and proclaim the group’s lead rapper Black Thought is better now than he was 30 years ago.
“Black Thought,” the Summer of Soul director wrote. “An emcee who cares about his craft. Next month mark the 30Th anniversary of the institution known as the Roots. Imagine being better than you were 30 years ago. Wow.”
Black Thought is undoubtedly a master of his craft and has recently been using his talents to give back in a big way. Earlier in April, the Philly legend hosted his second series of Hip Hop workshops at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, where he engaged young rappers in “tangible exercises that [sparked] growth” and helped them “craft their individual sounds,” according to the press release.
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As for Questlove, he’s also been impacting the arts community in a big way. On April 13, it was reported that Questlove’s Oscar-winning Summer of Soul documentary, which explored the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, had revived the festival entirely. The festival will return more than 50 years later in 2023 and will be called The Harlem Festival of Culture. It’ll take place at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, the same venue where the original took place.
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The Philadelphia drummer will also soon be working with Black Thought on something other than a Roots album. The pair have signed up to executive produce a new documentary on James Brown, an experience they said they were “honored” to be a part of.
“The life of James Brown is significant not only to understand his immense musical impact, which inspires us and other artists to this day, but also for the deep and lasting impression he has had on American culture,” the duo said in a joint statement. “Brown’s life is a crucial and timely story of struggle, redemption, and self-identity and we are honored to have the chance to share it.”
