Question 1

Do the Roots write their own songs?

Accepted Answer

Members are credited on 134 of the group's 157 studio tracks, and 40 of those carry no writer from outside the band. Black Thought is on 115 and Questlove on 100. The 1995 album Do You Want More?!!!??! publishes no writing credit for anybody, which is where most of the gap comes from.

Question 2

Who writes the words?

Accepted Answer

Black Thought, on 115 of the 157 tracks. Malik B. wrote alongside him until 1999 and Dice Raw is credited on 51 tracks across two decades.

Question 3

How many albums have they released?

Accepted Answer

Eleven studio albums: Organix (1993), Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995), Illadelph Halflife (1996), Things Fall Apart (1999), Phrenology (2002), The Tipping Point (2004), Game Theory (2006), Rising Down (2008), How I Got Over (2010), Undun (2011) and ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014).

Question 4

Which album sold the most?

Accepted Answer

Things Fall Apart, certified platinum by the RIAA. Do You Want More?!!!??! and Phrenology are both gold.

Question 5

Who wrote "You Got Me"?

Accepted Answer

Black Thought, Questlove, Scott Storch and Jill Scott, with Erykah Badu singing the hook. It won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 42nd Grammy Awards.

Question 6

Why are their track numbers continuous?

Accepted Answer

The albums number tracks straight through from the first record rather than restarting at one, so Organix runs 1 to 17 and ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin picks up at 171.

Question 7

Who is in the band?

Accepted Answer

Black Thought and Questlove have been there since 1987. The current lineup adds Captain Kirk Douglas, James Poyser, Kamal Gray, Mark Kelley, Raymond Angry, Damon Bryson, Stro Elliot, Ian Hendrickson-Smith and Dave Guy.

Question 8

Which album do they write most of themselves?

Accepted Answer

Organix, where ten of the 17 tracks carry only band members, and Things Fall Apart, where eight of 18 do.

Question 9

Are they still recording?

Accepted Answer

...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin in 2014 is the most recent studio album under the group's own name. They have kept working as the house band on Jimmy Fallon's show since 2009.

Question 10

What about the collaboration albums?

Accepted Answer

Wake Up! with John Legend, Betty Wright: The Movie and Wise Up Ghost with Elvis Costello are credited to two acts each and sit outside this catalogue.

The Roots