The Roots Nearly Battled The Fugees [Audio]

Written By S. Samuel

Renowned hip-hop crew The Roots recently talked about nearly clashing Grammy-award winning trio The Fugees during the mid-1990's.

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Appearing on DJ Whoo Kid‘s Shade 45 broadcast, The Roots said Fugees subliminally challenged them at concerts.

“I’ll say the closest we came to [a beef], and it was more creative sh*t, I think it was a little something with the Fugees back then,” The Roots said in an interview with DJ Whoo Kid. “It was something. I heard a rumor, somebody called me and said they started doing some “Hip-Hop 101″ thing at their show and was like, you know, ‘If you see anybody else doing this, remember you saw it here first.’ Knowing that was a lie.” (Shade 45)

In 2009, The Roots’ drummer Questlove called out Method Man for declining to perform on their “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” show.

“I have a question for Method Man,” Quest said in a video to radio personality Peter Rosenberg. “I just got a memo today that said he doesn’t want The Roots to back him up when he comes on the show on Monday. He just wanted to do it with his deejay. And the label told me it’s because he wants it to sound close to as to what it would sound like on the radio…That’s very 1994…I actually thought we made that song sound even better… I’m very disappointed…I don’t think you should let your fear or desparation of still being accepted on the radio determine giving a kick-a** performance on the show…People still talking about the Public Enemy sh*t, or the Ludacris sh*t, or even the Rick Ross [performance] on the show… I find it very curious that we got that memo and I’m very disappointed.” (YouTube)

Method Man later responded, justifying his refusal.

“My personal thing, I can’t rock with a band,” Mef explained in an interview. “I get drowned out. My voice ain’t strong like that. [I haven’t performed with the Roots] but I rock they sh*t. I definitely rock they sh*t. But I can’t rock with a band, I would love to rock with a band but my voice gets drowned out.” (Juan Epstein)

The Roots’ run in hip-hop dates back to the late 1980’s.

Though popular success has largely eluded the Roots, the Philadelphia group showed the way for live rap, building on Stetsasonic’s “hip-hop band” philosophy of the mid-’80s by focusing on live instrumentation at their concerts and in the studio. Though their album works have been inconsistent affairs, more intent on building grooves than pushing songs, the Roots’ live shows are among the best in the business. (All Music)

Check out The Roots’ interview below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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