The Roots’ Iconic Releases Receive Expansive Anniversary Re-Issues from Geffen/UMe/Urban Legends
Going back to the vault, each re-mastered album will draw from original master recordings – 20th Anniversary Edition of Things Fall Apart to include bonus tracks, photography, artwork and band commentary
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Things Fall Apart, with Do You Want More?!!!??! celebrating its 25th anniversary next year and Illadelph Halflife turning 25 in 2021. Each remastered re-issue will be drawn from the original master recordings, and Things Fall Apart will include bonus selections, rare photos, essays by Black Thought and Questlove and liner notes from Questlove.
“We’re looking forward to going back to the vault to revisit our original recordings from the studio and we’re excited to celebrate these albums by really delivering something special for our fans,” said The Roots.
Harry Weinger, Vice President of Product Development at UMe, said, “By every metric, The Roots continue to have an outsized global impact on music and culture. We’re thrilled to work with the band to re-issue these seminal albums in a way that will provide a new experience and perspective on the times when they were released and how they continue to speak to the times today.”
Andre Torres, Vice President of Urban Catalog at Urban Legends, said, “As these Roots’ classics reach milestone anniversaries, we’re revisiting these important albums with fresh ears. By going back to the vaults, we’re giving these albums the deluxe edition treatment and pulling archival material that’s only been heard by very few people. These remastered music packages provide an unprecedented look at the evolution of hip-hop’s greatest live band and satisfy lifelong Roots fans to casual listeners, and everyone in between.”
Starting off the celebration will be The Roots’ breakthrough fourth album Things Fall Apart, available on September 27, 2019. This melancholy gem of 2000s alternative hip-hop, originally released on MCA Records in 1999, has been freshly remastered and re-pressed in two lavish triple vinyl configurations. The standard configuration features the original album, remastered on double vinyl with a third LP of bonus tracks curated by Questlove, including a 24-page booklet featuring rare images, retrospective essays by Black Thought and Questlove, track-by-track liner notes from Questlove. The Collector’s Edition features all of the above, but with clear vinyl and a die-cut slipcase with all 5 alternate covers as interchangeable lithos with foil stamp numbering. More information, including pre-order details, will be announced soon.
Pre-order Things Fall Apart (standard): https://lnk.to/ThingsFallApartStandard
Pre-order Things Fall Apart (collector’s edition): https://lnk.to/ThingsFallApartColor
Do You Want More?!!!??!, The Roots’ second studio album, is the band’s major label-debut, coming two years after their independent debut album, Organix in 1993. The album is critically acclaimed as a classic of hip-hop jazz. Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot celebrated the group’s ability to “mate hip-hop wordplay, funk rhythms and jazzy textures” and calls the album “an impressive display of skills, intelligently arranged and performed.” In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source‘s 100 Best Rap Albums. The re-issue will be available in 2020.
Illadelph Halflife’s is the third studio album from The Roots. With contributions from artists across jazz and R&B including Amel Larrieux, D’Angelo, Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, David Murray, and Cassandra Wilson, the album shows the immense growth of the band from their first two titles. Upon release, The New York Times music critic Neil Strauss recognized the album as “one of the year’s best rap offerings” and celebrated its “politically conscious lyrics.” Illadelph Halflife offered a fresh perspective on hip-hop. The album, which will be re-issued in 2021, has been recognized by The Source, The Village Voice, and Hip-Hop Connections as one of the 100 Best Rap Albums.
