The Roots make the grade in hip-hop

Geoff Carter

Friday, April 9, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

"That was about a C-plus," said Black Thought, emcee for the Philadelphia hip-hop group The Roots, playfully chiding the audience.

"We strive to be honor roll students here. Let's try to bring this (expletive) up to an A."

If there was an honor roll for club bands, The Roots -- touring behind their latest release "Things Fall Apart" -- surely earned a spot on it over Thursday night's searing performance at The Joint at the Hard Rock. Black Thought, bassist Hub, keyboardist Kamal, human beatbox Scratch and drummer ?uestlove (yes, it's a Q) assayed not only every volume of the hip-hop encyclopedia but made reference to the blues, funk and jazz volumes over the course of an inventive set that more or less busted the syllabus.

Taking the stage to a mini-showdown between ?uestlove and Scratch -- the latter can mimic the sound of turntable scratching with eerie accuracy -- the band members more or less sailed through killer versions of "Table of Contents" and "Step Into The Relm," pacing themselves for the hard work to come. They reached a fever pitch with "Adrenaline," a number that earns the designation "rump-shaker" a dozen times over, and a sweet take on the hit "You Got Me," with an audience sing-along subbing for the absent Erykah Badu vocal.

There's no denying their chops -- Kamal, in particular, was smoking, probably because he'd just gotten married -- but it's the casual air with which The Roots do their thing that really makes the grade. Like fellow Philadelphia funksters G. Love and Special Sauce, The Roots would be equally at ease playing for five people or 5,000. They wouldn't change the way they work a room, nor would they trim their 15-minute improvisational jazz set, complete with drum, bass and keyboard solos. Yes, it's true.

The Hard Rock crowd, primed to party down, didn't know quite what to make of the band's quarter-hour jazz interlude, and some walked out; those who stayed were treated to sharp vamps on Parliament's "Give Up The Funk," Miles Davis' "So What" and Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther" theme. And it was impossible not to smile as ?uestlove mimed turning an imaginary knob up and down, adjusting his volume accordingly.

?uestlove maintains in interviews that their variety of hip-hop is "thinking" hip-hop, an intellectually-charged pastiche of East and West Coast rap styles and down-home funk. After being properly schooled Thursday night, I feel no need to argue the point with the professors. Honor roll? Give them their diplomas -- The Roots are ready to teach.