The Roots @ Mission Ballroom

The Roots lit up Mission Ballroom on July 20th, 2024, bringing their infections hip hop to Denver, CO. Digable Planets opened up the show and had the crowd grooving in no time.

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Digable Planets

Though they were not the first to synthesize jazz and hip-hop, Digable Planets epitomized the laid-back charm of jazz hipsters better than any group before or since. The trio’s 1993 debut album, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), was a mellow ride packed with samples from Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, and Curtis Mayfield, and the single “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” became a Top 20 pop hit. After earning a Grammy for Best New Duo or Group and embarking on an ambitious tour that included several live musicians, the Planets returned in late 1994 with their best album yet. Blowout Comb continued the group’s jazz-rap fusion, but also saw them branching out to embrace the old school sound of the street as well.

Digable Planets formed in the early ’90s, when Butterfly (b. Ishmael Butler, Brooklyn, NY) met Ladybug (b. Mary Ann Vieira, Silver Springs, MD) while attending college in Massachusetts. The two later hooked up with Doodlebug (b. Craig Irving, Philadelphia, PA), in Washington, D.C., and began recording. Digable Planets’ resulting tour had a laid-back vibe more in keeping with a jazz show than any hip-hop concert. The live musicians were criticized for doing little more than re-creating samples from the album.

The trio solved that problem with the release of their second album, Blowout Comb, in late 1994. Much stronger than its predecessor, it used fewer samples and even included several solos. With no strong single to carry it, however, Blowout Comb’s sales performance was not up to that of Reachin’. After Blowout Comb, Digable Planets basically dissolved due to the dreaded “creative differences”. All three continued making music separately. Despite many promises that the recordings would become actual releases, nearly a decade passed before releases appeared from Butterfly’s Cherrywine project, Ladybug’s new billing Ladybug Mecca, and Doodlebug’s Cee Knowledge. Then, the three announced that they had reunited to record their third Digable Planets album.

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Photos by Ryan Green. All images © 2024 Copyright Ryan Green. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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The Roots

One of the most prolific rap groups, the Roots were also among the most progressive acts in contemporary music. Despite the seemingly archaic practice of functioning as a rap band with several instrumentalists — from 2007 onward, their lineup even featured a sousaphonist — they were ceaselessly creative, whether with their own material or through their varied assortment of collaborations. They went platinum and gold with successive studio releases and won a handful of Grammy Awards. After they gained a nightly nationwide audience through a close partnership with television host Jimmy Fallon, they continued to challenge listeners with works free of genre restrictions.

The Roots’ focus on live music began back in 1987, when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) became friends at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. Playing around school, on the sidewalk, and later at talent shows (with ?uestlove’s drum kit backing Black Thought’s rhymes), the pair began to earn money and hooked up with bassist Hub (Leonard Hubbard) and rapper Malik B. Moving from the street to local clubs, the Roots became a highly tipped underground act around Philadelphia and New York. When they were invited to represent stateside hip-hop at a concert in Germany, the Roots recorded an album to sell at shows; the result, Organix, was released in May 1993 on Remedy Records. A music industry buzz surrounded their activities. The Roots entertained offers from several labels before signing with DGC that same year.

pulled from Spotify

Photos by Ryan Green. All images © 2024 Copyright Ryan Green. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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