On Friday August 29th, Oakland’s historic Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts played host to a classic sound of Philadelphia. Thirty years on from their seminal major label debut LP Do You Want More?!?!?, The Roots stripped down to their core to revisit the halcyon days, embarking on a thorough trek through the wayback machine with appropriate pomp and circumstance. The night offered more than merely a tribute to an important album; it was a testament to the musical ethos that gave birth to it.
Ever since bum-rushing the spot and setting up shop on South Street circa 1992, Philly’s legendary hip-hop live band/collective has traversed a tightrope between rap’s countercultural cutting edge and supporting some of the genre’s biggest stars. The Roots unveiled Do You Want More?!!!??! in January 1995—a jazzy fusion of Black music history and contemporary hip-hop vibes. The 16-song document saw the band transition to Geffen Records after independently releasing their Organix LP on DGC Records two years earlier.
Do You Want More?!!!??! revealed a nascent squadron finding their footing in the studio, leveling up their craft, and establishing a sound before accumulating a dedicated international following that soon stretched beyond the normal ’90s rap demographic.
20 Year Anniversary, The Roots DO YOU WANT MORE?!!!??! [Documentary Excerpt]
[Video: Okayplayer]
After a critically acclaimed run of records and indefatigable touring grind, eventually the band turned style and decamped to 30 Rock, shifting gears into a lovable house band on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In the three decades since dropping Do You Want More?!!!??!, The Roots’ pioneering, innovative impulse continues to reverberate live on stage, and their ambitious earliest works pack remarkable staying power.
Back in March, The Roots marked the 30th anniversary of their breakthrough release with a three-night, six-show residency at the world-famous Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. Then in late May, the group showcased the album again outside Philadelphia during its annual festival, The Roots Picnic. The celebration culminated over a long Labor Day Weekend in NorCal, with the Friday Oakland engagement providing a bridge between a pair of standard full-band Roots performances—The Quarry in Santa Cruz and co-headlining Robert Glasper’s Black Radio Experience event in Napa.
The Roots With Dice Raw – Do You Want More?!!!??! 30th Anniversary Show – Blue Note New York – 3/13/25
[Video: NYC Hip Hop & Jazz Concerts & Shows]
The Kaiser was a fitting venue given its integral role in Oakland’s rich cultural history. Since it first opened as the Oakland Auditorium in 1915, the building has housed countless notable events, from speeches by the iconic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to hallowed Grateful Dead concerts throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Recently refurbished and reopened after a period in dilapidation, the stunning Calvin Simmons Theatre created an intimate container for a mostly seated, semi-subdued audience to take in this consecration of brotherly love.
To accommodate the jazzy, minimalist arrangements that define their debut, The Roots fielded a smaller lineup for the occasion. In addition to bandleaders/co-founders Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter (vocals) and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (drums), the group included longtime keyboardists Kamal Gray and James Poyser, programmer Stro Elliot, newest recruit Thad Tribbett (bass), plus Daptone duo Ian Hendrickson-Smith (sax) and Dave Guy (trumpet).
Early co-conspirator and beatboxing ninja supreme Rahzel the Godfather of Noize, who figures prominently in the first few Roots records, rejoined the band for the entirety of the set. The roughly 100-minute throwdown focused exclusively on the years 1994–’96, by way of Do You Want More?!!!??! and select faves from cherished followup Illadelph Halflife.
After a subtle, mournful bass segment from Tibbet, the band members made their way on stage and assumed instrumental positions. The proceedings began with somewhat of a seance. “There’s Something Goin’ On” welcomed poet and Philly Roots fam Ursula Rucker for a twist on her own 2006 piece ‘L.O.V.E.”. After blessing the hushed crowd, she retreated backstage and Black Thought took over as master of ceremonies. Soon “Essaywhuman” smoothly segued into spirited head nodder “Respond/React”, resulting in copious rap hands flying towards the stage from every direction.
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Questlove communicated in his patented drum dialect, a buoyant blend of surgical precision and off-kilter, behind-the-beat swagger. Ever the deep cut connoisseur, the mad musicologist had a slick trick up his sleeve during Illadelph’s “Respond/React” early on. After a standard accompaniment to the first two verses, Quest redirected the team into the haunting, ghostlike boom-bap of “Tried By 12”, a late ’90s underground classic by the relatively obscure East Flatbush Project. It was the kind of moment that reminds us The Roots represent more than just a rap band with instruments; they’re certified curators of a culture, anointed keepers of a flame.
The highlights and haymakers kept on coming throughout the session. Beloved bangers like “Distortion to Static” (The Roots’ first-ever single), “Proceed”, “Concerto of the Desperado”, and “Section” were distilled back to their embryonic essence, and the more chill joints like “Mellow My Man” and “Silent Treatment” floated out into the theater like wafts of Philly blunt smoke. In a stroke of jam band modus operandi, the squad smartly stretched “Lazy Afternoon” out across the length of the set, stuffing four or five segued songs in between the three verses.
As someone who’s had the privilege of enjoying various versions of The Roots across more than 30 concerts since May 1995, it was nothing short of a thrill to catch faithful renditions of “I Remain Calm”, “Panic”, “It Just Don’t Stop”, “Do You Want More”, “One Shine”, “Proceed 2”, a samba-fied “Swept Away”, and the very first Roots cut to ever grace these ears, “DATSKAT”, all long-shelved from the band’s ever-mutating live-set rotation.
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An ageless wonder on the mic, Black Thought’s mind-boggling lyrical sorcery would once again daze and astound, employing the same be-bop verve that informed the original jawns with a second-nature ease. Clad in a Boyz In The Hood t-shirt and oversized baggies that would make JNCO blush, the stylish cyborg prowled the stage bathing in muted blue light. With The Roots leaning back into their more sparse early arrangements, Trotter laced these primordial raps with trademark methodical vitality.
In addition, when rhyming Malik B.’s classic verses, Thought accurately and respectfully approximated the aggression, cynicism, and tone native to his late partner. The quiet, militant heart of the early crew, Malik left The Legendary around the millennium, returning for the occasional guest feature before his untimely passing in 2020.
Photo: Upful LIFE – The late Malik B’s mic & Leonard ‘Hub’ Hubbard’s bass.
Stage left, The Roots had a microphone set up on a stool in tribute to Malik, as well as a bass guitar in honor of late former bassist Leonard “Hub” Hubbard, who died in 2021 after an extended illness. In the middle of the set, the group took a few moments to pay tribute to their fallen brethren, who both played major roles in this era of their career. The Roots also honored their late manager/svengali Richard Nichols, the mastermind behind the whole journey. The same for recently departed mentor/inspiration Roy Ayers. The jazz-funk legend and hip-hop Godfather was feted in the form of a truncated reading of the vibraphonist’s signature chestnut “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” featuring Stro Elliot on digi-vibes and an ever-rare Questlove lead vocal.
Rahzel the Godfather of Noize made his presence felt as an instrumentalist all night. When given the solo spotlight, he dialed up his classic beatbox interpolations such as Beenie Man’s electrifying “Who Am I (Sim Simma)”, Busta Rhymes‘ “Touch It”, and Oakland rap OG Too Short’s ubiquitous “Blow the Whistle”—the unofficial theme song of 2024 Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Deep into the thrilling performance, Ursula Rucker humbly returned to center stage; soon jaws dropped as the poetess proceeded to passionately unspool the fiery retribution of a young woman who was gang-raped. Her gripping poem “The Unlocking” provides the disturbing, lurid closing to Do You Want More?!!!??!, and in reprising this profane purge of traumatized, righteous indignation, Rucker took no shorts in rendering the entire theater speechless in her royal wake.
Contrasting the modestly dressed host band in a bedazzled cream jumpsuit, Philly underground emcee and Roots la famalia Dice Raw surprised everybody in the spot at the tail end of the show. In the tailwind of Rucker’s firestorm, the “Wild Noid” emerged from the shadows to grab the chrome microphone and revisit the braggadocio-drenched joint “The Lesson Pt. 1”. This raucous reunion provided a spectacular finale to the emotional, engrossing, enthralling trip down memory lane, all the way live from the 2-1-5.
Photo: Upful LIFE – Dice Raw joins Black Thought & Rahzel on “The Lesson pt.1”.
The Roots – 8/29/95 Oakland setlist
words: B.Getz