The Chuckness

This week on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is entirely dedicated to  Bruce Springsteen, as he’s gearing up to release his 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball. John Legend swung by the studio and dropped a little “Dancing In The Dark” cover with The Roots — annnnd his talent is on full display…just a bit. Wrecking Ball in stores March 5th. Tweet

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver swung by Jimmy Fallon’s studio last week and gathered The Roots to put on a little live performance of “Perth”, and it’s pretty awesome. Questlove on the drums adds an entirely different element — I could go for a little Bon Iver/The Roots collabo album. Anyone?   Tweet

People love lists. Particularly “best of the year” lists. There’s something about putting a quantitative ranking next to a collection of the year’s entertainment — the people need to know how things match up against each other. To be honest, I was dreading the creation of these rankings. It’s borderline impossible for me to take two albums of completely different genres and try to justify how one is better than the other. In the process though, you re-discover albums from earlier in the year that you loved, but didn’t quite give enough time to. This is the summation of that … Continue reading →

NPR gets everything! Growing up, I always thought that the station was meant strictly for senile, boring, cardboard-esque old men. Nowadays they’re premiering exclusive album streams of heavily hyped projects (a la Childish Gambino’s Camp). I dig the new branding effort. Anyways, hit The Roots’ new album undun in it’s entirety via this link, and let me know how it is. NPR for the win. Tweet

Here’s a new cut from The Roots’ upcoming album undun, which is slated to drop a week from today on December 6th. Have they ever disappointed with a commercial release? The answer’s no. Hit the stream and download below. Pre-order undun here. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: The Roots (feat. Phonte & Dice Raw) – One Time  [via HT] Tweet

The talented Betty Wright helped out Wayne with a cameo back on Tha Carter III, when she featured on “Playing With Fire”. It looks like he’s returning the favor here, as he adds a verse of his own for a track off her upcoming collaborative album with The Roots. I was hesitant at first, but Wayne definitely goes back to his roots on this one; he’s the perfect complement for this particular beat. Betty Wright: The Movie drops next Tuesday. [via 2DB] Tweet

This is the second track I’ve heard off of The Roots’ upcoming album Undun, which is shaping up to be something special. It’s tough for The Roots to further enhance their reputation in the hip-hop world, but “Make My” has done just that. With a perfectly crafted beat, and a feature from Big K.R.I.T., their new single pushes boundaries in the genre. Here we have another cut off the album, which is due out December 6th. “Tip The Scale” tells the story of a young man with a ton of potential, who takes a left turn and ends up a … Continue reading →

Here’s the first single off of The Roots’ upcoming THIRTEENTH studio album, titled Undun. Thirteen albums is unheard of, and the fact that they’re continuing to make captivating music is even more ridiculous. They could’ve really mailed this one in and people would still pick it up, but damn, “Make My” is on another level. Undun is due out on December 6th. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: The Roots (feat. Big K.R.I.T.) – Make My Tweet

These types of covers are so shockingly awesome. I’m struggling to think of a less likely jam for John Legend & The Roots to cover…but this result is just gold. Check it out. [via] Tweet

I’ve decided to spice up the way we do business around here by adding a little “Best of the Month” feature.  This is for all of the amateurs who don’t check the site on a daily basis, and want a quick breakdown of the top tracks of the past few weeks.  Thus, I have created a method with which you can cherry pick my favorite tracks of the month by simply viewing one post.  Mind boggling right? I’ve included a mixed and mastered continuous stream of the top tracks of the month, just in case you wanted to fluidly listen … Continue reading →