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Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson and Black Thought of The Roots
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Looking at the list of all the guests you have on the album, what's your thought process going into it -- is it people you're interested in, people you've worked with, people who approach you?
We kind of took a Noah approach -- two of every animal -- which was pretty much a step ahead of our Moses plan where things fall apart. The Moses plan, the way we came to that, when we released Do You Want More?!!!??! and Illadelph Halflife -- our second and third albums -- it was just done in a time when the marketplace wasn't prepared for what we had to offer. We kind of explained to the label that the only way for The Roots to make any sense out of what's going on is ... in order to make sense of it, you have to have like-minded artists in context. We told the label to build a stable, so they went out and gathered a flock -- they got Common off his label, they got Mos [Def], they got [Talib] Kweli -- basically got all the left-of-center people that you associate us with and brought 'em to our label. We told them to do that so when we release another record, it'll actually make sense. With this album, the Noah approach is that we know a tsunami is coming so let's run for cover. Let's grab the established crew, let's grab the crew that you don't expect us to be down with and let's grab the newcomers. So, in between the established of Common, Mos and Kweli, and the unexpected of Saigon and Styles P, you have the newcomers of Chrisette [Michelle], P.O.R.N. and Truck North -- that's us gathering two of every animal.
Does it make it difficult to line up when you're working with so many people?
No. The one thing The Roots has proven is that we're good in groups of people. We welcome it. We're a community. Not to the level of the [Polyphonic] Spree where there's 45 people on stage, but I think that you invite people and tell them what the narrative is and -- I like it -- you get different views and perspectives. A lot of the narrative is done in first person, so it breaks the perception of where we're going, especially when it's about street life or violence -- you get three different perspectives kind of like a movie.
And there are some people who didn't make the album ...
Lupe [Fiasco] had pneumonia, [Q-]Tip's grandma died and J Electronica just didn't show up. (laughs) Maybe on the next album.
How do you find time for everything that you're involved with?
You sit there and say there can be time for absolutely nothing else. The last date I went on was maybe five weeks ago, if that. There is no time. You soundcheck at 4:30, take a small nap at 6:30, go on stage from 8 to 11:30 and then DJ from 12 to 3 in the morning and the bus picks you up. You get in the next city 8 hours later, do interviews from 11 to 3 and it starts all over again. It's everyday. This is exactly what I asked for. Too often, you hear to be careful for what you ask for. I don't complain. Right now, there are 50 other artists that used to be on top in the '90s and now they don't have it anymore. They would kill for nine interviews a day.
Is there one place you're happiest -- production vs. behind the drum kit?
The grass is always greener on the other side. There was a period that I took off from producing other people -- 2003 to 2005 -- and then I started with Al Green. Those few years I wanted more sleep and more time, but I realized I missed it. I really just feel as though that if I'm in the studio, I enjoy it but I get restless and miss going to Austin, Portland and Tokyo and going to the little record stores. I'm going to enjoy [the upcoming tour.] When we're opening for Erykah it's not going to be three-hour shows. It'll be 45 minutes and probably the most fun we have on stage.
How'd you get hooked up with Al Green?
After sitting in the Grammy audience for so long, anyone over age 60 feels the only way they can get on stage is the Santana route or the Tony Bennet route -- oversaturation with guests or doing standards. I was joking with a journalist from Rolling Stone about that very thing. Is that the only answer? He said I needed to find acts I used to love and produce them now. The folks at Blue Note Records said they had Al Green. I said yes before I said anything else. It's very important for me to make sure that this record sounds correct. People want to go back to the old feeling and it never sounds like that -- I hate that. The thing that got Blue Note off my behind was probably the Winehouse record. They were afraid I'd alienate their Starbucks audience, but it's Al Green. That's what his audience wants. They accepted it, thank God.
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Calendar
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Taste of the Mint: Food for Thought Art Tours @ Mint Museum Uptown
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Tropidelic @ Neighborhood Theatre -
SahBabii @ The Underground- Fri., March 21, 8 p.m.
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No Diggity Band @ Headliners Uptown Charlotte
- Fri., March 21, 8 p.m. and Sat., March 22, 4 p.m.
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Los Tigres del Norte @ Ovens Auditorium- Fri., March 21, 8 p.m.
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CL previews upcoming concerts
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R&B group Shai looks back at 20 years 9
These smooth talkers distinguished themselves with vulnerable lyrics and swelling harmonies
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The Roots keep Rising
?uestlove discusses latest album, Al Green
