My introduction to The Roots came when my college roomate, Nate, a self-proclaimed "musical expert" from outside of Boston, burst into our dorm room with a copy of "Organix" (their first album) in his hand, threw it into the CD player and proclaimed, "Dude, Philly is now officially phat." (If you are in need of a translation, you can consult anyone at tonight's concert.) "Before I heard this," he said, "all Philly was to me, musically speaking, was Boyz II Men."
While Nate was displaying his ignorance of the role Philly has played in the history of American music (and offending me, a Boyz fan), he was also unwittingly touching on an ironically accurate connection between the two groups. Check out this bit from The Roots' official bio which sheds some light on the comical connection The Roots and Boyz II Men shared in their early days...
"1989. Valentine's Day. Philadelphia's High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. The Square Roots {their name at the time} debut their first show, facing off against classmates Boyz II Men.
?uestlove now looks back and asserts that the R&B group cheated, doing a New Edition routine complete with matching gear and glitter in their hands. The Square Roots are upstaged by the glamour and glitz. IT WOULD BECOME A RECURRING THEME."
While the Boyz may have done more for the jeans-shorts-and-blazers fashion trend then anyone else out there, I think the (square) Roots have won out over time. Can't wait for the show.
Hey I saw your thing on OKP about"rush tix" being released at 5. Just wanted to try to sort of verify the details of this before heading down to Kimmell? Are there definitely gonna be more tix released and if so what would be best time to show up there? Thanks and enjoy the show (hope I get to.)-
Ben