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Undun (album)
''Undun'' is the twelfth studio album by American hip hop band the Roots. It was released on December 6, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded in sessions at several studios in Philadelphia and New York City. Production was handled primarily by Questlove, the band's record producer and drummer. They were joined by guest contributors, including vocalist Bilal and rappers Big K.R.I.T., Dice Raw, and Phonte. Musically, ''Undun'' incorporates influences from neo soul and indie music. Thematically, it is an existential concept album about the short, tragic life of fictional character Redford Stevens, set in urban poverty and told through a reverse-chronological narrative. The album performed modestly on music charts and sold 112,000 copies in the United States. It was a greater success with critics, being widely praised for its existential subject matter, production quality, and the band's musicianship. ''Undun'' was included on several critics' year-end lists of be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Roots
The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', having served in the same role on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' from 2009 to 2014. Current regular members of The Roots on ''The Tonight Show'' are Captain Kirk Douglas (guitar), Mark Kelley (bass), James Poyser (keyboards), Ian Hendrickson-Smith (saxophone), Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson (sousaphone), Stro Elliot (keyboards and drums), Dave Guy (trumpet), Kamal Gray (keyboards), and Raymond Angry (keyboards). The Roots are known for a jazz rap, jazzy and eclectic approach to hip hop featuring live musical instruments and the group's work has consistently been met with critical acclaim. ThoughtCo ranked the band #7 on its list of the 25 Best Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time, calling them "Hip-hop's f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilal (American Singer)
Bilal Sayeed Oliver (born August 23, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is an independent artist, noted for his wide vocal range, work across multiple genres, and intense live performances. Starting out at a major label, Bilal debuted with his popular R&B single "Soul Sista (song), Soul Sista" in 2000, but turned to playing jazz venues and recording more progressive soul music in subsequent years. He has commercially released four albums to critical success, while his unreleased but widely leaked second album ''Love for Sale (Bilal album), Love for Sale'' also found wide acclaim among critics and listeners. He was a member of the Soulquarians, an experimental black music collective active from the late 1990s to early 2000s. He has been well received, both nationally and internationally, with an extensive list of collaborations including Kendrick Lamar, Common (rapper), Common, Erykah Badu, Solange Knowles, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru (rapper), Guru, Kimbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuba Gooding Jr
The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the newer instruments in the modern orchestra and concert band, and largely replaced the ophicleide. ''Tuba'' is Latin for "trumpet". A person who plays the tuba is called a tubaist, a tubist, or simply a tuba player. In a British brass band or military band, they are known as bass players. History Prussian Patent No. 19 was granted to Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz on 12 September 1835 for a "bass tuba" in F1. The original Wieprecht and Moritz instrument used five valves of the Berlinerpumpen type that was the forerunner of the modern piston valve. The first tenor tuba was invented in 1838 by Moritz's son Carl Wilhelm Moritz. The addition of valves made it possible to play low in the harmonic series of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain Kirk Douglas
"Captain" Kirk Douglas (born September 30, 1973) is an American lead guitarist and singer in the hip hop band The Roots. Douglas plays with the Roots in the house band for ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Career "Captain" Kirk Douglas joined the Roots in 2003. His first album with the Roots was 2004's ''The Tipping Point'', where he split guitar duties with Martin Luther and Anthony Tidd. By the release of their 2006 album ''Game Theory'', he had assumed the role as sole guitarist for the band. As a vocalist, he serves as the band's primary melodic singer, sharing duties with American rapper Black Thought. His band Hundred Watt Heart includes Ricc Sheridan (drums) and Gbatokai Dakina (bass), and has released two albums. Equipment On ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', Douglas mainly uses a Gibson CS-356, a black custom Gibson Les Paul, or a custom Gibson SG. He owns more than fifteen electric guitars, including a Gibson Goldtop (given to him by Vernon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamal Gray
Kamal Gray is a hip-hop keyboardist, rapper, vocalist, and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is member of the hip hop band, The Roots, who are also the house band, The Tonight Show Band on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Gray occasionally appears in games and sketches on ''The Tonight Show''. Growing up in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Gray played basketball court and football at Martin Luther King High. He studied the guitar before focusing on jazz piano training in his early teens. Gray joined The Roots in 1994 immediately after graduating from high school in Philadelphia. He replaced keyboard player Scott Storch joining the band in London. His first album with The Roots was ''Illadelph Halflife'' in 1996, and he has played on twelve of their fourteen studio albums. Music writers have discussed Gray's background in classical and jazz piano with influences including Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk. Critics have also discussed Gray's ability to integr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Thought
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regarded as "one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time",Black Thought – Biography AllMusic. Accessed on August 28, 2020.Interview of Jamal Greene, brother of Talib Kweli Conversation with Tyler. Accessed on June 2nd 2022. he is widely lauded for his live performance skills, continuous Multisyllabic rhymes, multisyllabic rhyme schemes, complex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include record sales, the amount of radio airplay, the number of music download, downloads, and the amount of streaming media, streaming activity. Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location. The most common period covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs. A common format of radio and television programs is to run down a music chart. History The first record chart was founded in 1952 by Percy Dick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reverse Chronology
Reverse chronology is a narrative structure and method of storytelling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order. In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion to the plot. Once that scene ends, the penultimate scene is shown, and so on, so that the final scene the viewer sees is the first chronologically. Many stories employ flashback, showing prior events, but whereas the scene order of most conventional films is A-B-C-etc., a film in reverse chronology goes Z-Y-X-etc. Purpose A narrative that employs reverse chronology presents effects before causes, asking the audience to piece together information about character motivations and the plot and encouraging them to ask themselves questions like "is this why she acted this way?" Scenes set in the past are interpreted in light of information the viewer has already learned from scenes set in the future, giving the audience a degree of narrative agency. Examples of use Literatur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music criticism, music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk music, folk singer Woody Guthrie's ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the birth of progressive rock and rock opera. Definitions There is no clear definition of a "concept album". Fiona Stur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Existentialism
Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value, existentialist thought often includes concepts such as existential crises, angst, courage, and freedom. Existentialism is associated with several 19th- and 20th-century European philosophers who shared an emphasis on the human subject, despite often profound differences in thought. Among the 19th-century figures now associated with existentialism are philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, all of whom critiqued rationalism and concerned themselves with the problem of meaning. The word ''existentialism'', however, was not coined until the mid 20th century, during which it became most associated with contemporaneous philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Simone de Beau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indie Rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced. The sound of indie rock has its origins in the New Zealand Dunedin sound of the Chills, Tall Dwarfs, the Clean and the Verlaines, and early 1980s college rock radio stations who would frequently play jangle pop bands like the Smiths and R.E.M. The genre solidified itself during the mid–1980s with ''NME''s ''C86'' cassette in the United Kingdom and the underground success of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Unrest (band), Unrest in the United States. During the 1990s, indie rock bands like Sonic Youth, the Pixies and Radiohead all released albums on major labels and subgenres like slowcore, Midwest emo, slacker rock and space rock began. By this time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neo Soul
Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul and contemporary R&B. Heavily based in soul music, neo soul is distinguished by a less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with incorporated elements ranging from funk, jazz fusion, and Hip hop music, hip hop, and to pop music, pop, rock music, rock, and electronic music. It has been noted by music writers for its traditional R&B influences, conscious-driven lyrics, and strong female presence. Neo soul developed in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, led by artists such as Omar Lye-Fook, Omar, Innocence (band), Innocence, Young Disciples, and Sade (band), Sade, as a soul revival movement. It gained recognition throughout the decade with the commercial and critical success of these musicians. Later, neo soul furthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
