The Roots

Released: August 29, 2006

Featuring: John-John

Songwriter: Black Thought Dice Raw Khari Mateen

Producer: Khari Mateen

[Hook x2: John-John]
Turn up the boombox, put on your hightops
Come on outside, today's gon' be the day
We start livin in the new world

[Verse: Black Thought]
Yo, they got high-powered lenses on the cameras outside
It ain't nowhere to run it ain't hardly nowhere to hide
They hear you when you whisperin so try to keep quiet
You don't even realize that youse a twinkle in the all-seein' eye
From the time you in the bar gettin high
To havin conversations on your phone through the wire
You can't drive but it's definitely footage of your ride
Livin in this day and time, it's a funny kind of vibe
From the corners of the ceiling feel its eyes in back of me
I couldn't tell you why I think they constantly after me
Maybe it's cause the news put it to me so graphically
How niggas don't obey no laws, not even gravity boy
No benefit of doubt he had to be wrong
He from the corner where they known to get they casualty on
Another day another scene to perform, spotlight him on Friday
Come and lock him up Saturday morn, c'mon

[Hook x2: John-John]
Turn up the boombox, put on your hightops
Come on outside, today's gon' be the day
We start livin in the new world

The world’s premiere hip-hop band, The Roots were formed in Philadelphia in 1987 by MC Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and drummer and bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Since those early days, the band has weathered changes in personnel and record labels while performing hundreds of shows a year and releasing a string of well-regarded (if not always top-selling) albums.

While the musicianship of Thompson and the other band members, as well as their seemingly limitless repertoire, gets most of the attention, real hip-hop fans know that the rapping skills of Black Thought (along with former group member Malik B.) are the group’s hidden weapon. Thought, one of the few MCs brave enough to go toe to toe with Big Pun, handles any groove the band throws at him with aplomb, style, and flash.

Today, The Roots are seen by millions every night as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a move that has given the group the chance to indulge its not-insignificant comic side.

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