In hip-hop, a posse cut is when four or more MCs get together and showcase their skills on a track. The Session (Longest Posse Cut in History) Although the band would evolve far beyond this sound, “The Anti-Circle” contains key staples of their sound: elite MCing and fluid musicianship.
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Over a slick bassline, Black Thought spits rhymes full of clever lines and metaphors. “The Anti-Circle” is indicative of that early Roots sound. It was there that the band developed their fusion of hip-hop and jazz. The Roots got their start in the early 90s busking on South Street in Philadelphia. Listen to the best of The Roots on Apple Music or Spotify. With over a dozen studio albums and numerous b-sides, side projects, live albums and collaborative projects in their catalog, it’d be impossible to definitively sum up the best songs that The Roots have offered, but this list offers an introduction to their sound.
More so than any of their contemporaries, The Roots have existed as a model for range and musical virtuosity, taking the sounds of jazz, rock, punk, drum & bass, psychedelia, and Afrobeat, seamlessly incorporating it all into hip-hop. From the jazz-inspired grooves of their early projects Organix and Do You Want More?!!!?! to the boundless experimentation of albums like Phrenology and Undun, The Roots have worked tirelessly in the studio, absorbing a range of influences and recruiting a seemingly endless cast of gifted collaborators. But their exciting live performances would be nothing without one of the most diverse catalog of songs in the history of rap music. For decades now, Philadelphia legends The Roots have been hip-hop’s best live band.