"The Seed (2.0)" is the second single by

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 ''T ...

from their fifth album ''

Phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

'' (2002). The track, which features

Cody Chesnutt Cody Chesnutt (stylized as Cody ChesnuTT; born October 21, 1968) is an American R&B and neo soul musician from Atlanta, Georgia. Biography Chesnutt's music blends elements of rock, funk, soul, hip hop, and blues. After relocating to Los An ...

on the guitar and vocals, is an "uptempo retooling" of his song "The Seed" from the album '' The Headphone Masterpiece''. The song's music video was nominated for the

MTV2 Award MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

at the

2003 MTV Video Music Awards The 2003 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2003, honoring the best music videos from June 1, 2002, to June 9, 2003. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The ceremony is best remembered for ...

. Jeff Vrabel of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the track as "a genre-bending mix of rock guitars and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

-styled keyboards and drums".

Music and reception

"The Seed (2.0)" is a hybrid mix of "distorted rock, hip-hop and

psychedelic soul Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a form of soul music which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s. The style saw African-American soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, ...

". Brett Berliner of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' called the track "a rock song, featuring a little bit of funk and just a very little bit of hip-hop."Berliner, Brett (September 1, 2003).
The Roots
". ''Stylus Magazine''. Accessed November 13, 2008. The song was favorably received by music critics.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

called it the album's "centerpiece", "2002's freshest roots rock track and jammingest avant rap track". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Sam Chennault described the song as an "orgiastic garage funk number" and called it the album's "most immediately satisfying track". In 2009, ''Pitchfork'' listed it at number 330 in "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s". ''Stylus Magazine''s Brett Berliner declared it the album's "best track" with its "catchy hook that stays with listeners for days". In ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

''s 2002 top fifteen "Songs of the Year", Stephen Thompson listed the single at number nine. Jake Coyle of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

called it "one of the best rock songs of the decade".Coyle, Jake (February 20, 2009). "
The Roots Take Over "Late Night"
. NBC. Accessed May 27, 2009. It was ranked as the 43rd best song of the decade by ''Rolling Stone''.

Charts

Certifications

Cover versions

* American rock band

Person L Person L was an American rock music, rock band fronted by Kenny Vasoli, of the pop punk band The Starting Line. Vasoli formed Person L in the winter of 2006 as an outlet to explore other musical styles. The group also consisted of drummers Brian ...

covered the song for the

Fearless Records Fearless Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1994. Fearless is based in Culver City, California, and is best known for its early pop punk moments captured in the ''Fearless Flush Sampler'' and ''Punk Bites'' releas ...

compilation ''

Punk Goes Crunk ''Punk Goes Crunk'' is the seventh compilation album in the '' Punk Goes...'' series released by Fearless Records. The album is composed of popular hip hop songs performed by various post-hardcore, metalcore and pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-p ...

'' in 2008. * Italian

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter

Zucchero Fornaciari Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), known professionally as Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his primary school teacher used to ...

imitated the style and arrangement of the song, without directly covering it, on "Un kilo", a song from his 2006 album ''

Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

''. As "Un kilo" is not a full cover, it was credited only to Fornaciari. * American jazz singer

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

covered it on his 2021 album ''Superblue'', featuring guitarist

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass line ...

References

External links

"The Seed (2.0)" music video
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seed 2003 singles The Roots songs 2001 songs MCA Records singles