The Roots

Released: April 28, 2008

Featuring: Mercedes Martinez

Songwriter: Khari Mateen Radji Mateen Tahir ?uestlove Dice Raw Black Thought Mercedes Martinez

Producer: Tahir The Roots Khari Mateen Radji Mateen

[Refrain: Mercedes Martinez]
When I think about the good times, I think about yesterday
You can ask me about the future, I don't know what to say
Tomorrow's story's unknown, so listen
It's almost anyone's guess, unwritten
When I think about the good times, I think about yesterday
You can ask me about the future, I don't know what to say
It's almost anyone's guess

[Verse: Black Thought]
Yo, it was a cold night, not cold like the winter
Just cold like a energy was in the air, I generally don't like
The driver had to dip, so he left me in the whip
Turned around and said "You know you're on your own, right?"
...
I'm the zone like
There's pictures on the wall of my own life
Just like a drive-in
Only it's live, and this a montage of the places I been
My sixth sense taste the problem
The suspense had my heart racin', throbbin'
Just like a young punk with a tape revolver
Pointed at the driver of a car, faced to rob him
The cigarettes chased the vodka
The nigga just chased the dream but won't taste the monster
The son won't face the father, the gun won't erase the drama
Why you wait 'til my time's up?

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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