Henry Adaso, over at About.com (their hip-hop coverage is a lot better than most of ya'll realize), has a solid interview with The Roots' ?uestlove about their upcoming, late summer album, Game Theory. The Roots are in an interesting, challenging spot - Tipping Point (their last album, from 2004) was a critical letdown and only a modest commercial success. And then, in the midst of some label drama, Def Jam snatched them up earlier this year and suddenly, they're being overseen by the S. Carter Administration. It's a pretty amazing turn of fortune except you'd expect there's some pressure on 'em to be some multi-plat success. Here's what ?uestlove said Jay had  to say about it:

"Yo, I'm not Jimmy Iovine. Don't come here with no bullsh*t. If y'all come here with snap music, I'm snapping y'all the f*ck out of my audience. If I hear y'all remotely trying to jump on some trend or all of a sudden, Tariq got a southern accent, I'm kicking y'all off this label. I want the real Roots album."

Other tidbits to consider: the group had started the album while still with Geffen but when they signed over to Def Jam, they had to leave the songs they already recorded back with Geffen. I'd be curious to know 1) what those songs sound like and 2) if Geffen ever plans to do anything with them (eh, probably not).

Also, for a while, the Roots had considered adding Jean Grae to the group but ?uest explains:

"At that point, we couldn't afford her. So, she had to do what was best for her situation. I was telling her to hold on, but, I couldn't make it happen quick enough. [Talib] Kweli and Cory Smith [Kweli's Manager] were telling her to come over to Blacksmith, so, she's signed to Blacksmith now."

Game Theory is slated for the end of August but we'll believe that when we actually see it drop.
Source: About.com

--O.W.