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Two decades into its life, hip-hop music is on fire and shows no signs of cooling off. Yet all too often live hiphop shows leave much to be desired. A couple of MCs and a DAT tape just don't cut it. That's one reason why roofs tend to get torn off when Philadelphia's six-piece Roots go all the way live with keyboards, bass, drums, and the illest human beat-boxes on Earth. Years of constant touring have seasoned the Roots into an accomplished band. While dangerous rhymes and smooth beats attract the hip-hop heads, jazzy, funky music and improvisational solos draw jazz types, and their sheer originality has endeared them to a large college audience. This crossover appeal and the single "You Got Me" (featuring Erykah Badu) helped the Roots' fourth album, Things Fall Apart, achieve platinum status.
One of the anchors of the Roots' sound is the creamy keyboard playing of the...