Known only as Jimmy Fallon’s house band by some, hip-hop group The Roots have in fact been putting out albums for nearly 20 years, with their first studio release “Organix” having dropped way back in 1993 (their live career goes back even further). Now the band is preparing to release their thirteenth LP entitled “undun”, a concept album that serves as “an existential re-telling of the short life of one Redford Stephens (1974-1999)”, according to the group’s official website.
Leading up the album’s December 6th release, ?uestlove, Black Thought and the rest of the band will be releasing a new video from the album (four total) every Tuesday, and below we’ve got the first two black-and-white clips, for “Make My feat. BIG K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw” (a disturbing look at the violent end of Stephens’ life featuring only half of the actual song) and “Tip the Scale” (in which the young man walks through his neighborhood and silently takes in the collection of weary souls populating the streets). Both were directed by Clifton Bell.
You can watch both videos below. Once you’ve finished, sound off with your impressions in the comments.
“Make My”:
“Tip the Scale”:
“undun” comes out on December 6th.