If Community’s blooper reels are any indication, Alison Brie loves to freestyle every now and then. The set seems to be musical hot bed as Brie’s co-stars, Donald Glover (or as you may know him by his alter ego, Childish Gambino) and Danny Pudi, made up the Spanish rap from season one.
Brie showed off her amateur skills last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where she rapped about Community. She also dished that the first time she dropped a rhyme in public, she got a little assistance from The Roots’ Questlove. Not bad, Brie. Not bad.
When Mariah Carey says it’s Christmas…it’s exciting. But according to YouTuber alexnicolaou, it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD.
After Mariah Carey collaborated with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots for a rendition of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, the vlogger filmed his reactions to the video. He was literally so excited that he had to run out of the room and jump with joy.
I have never seen someone act so excited before. God bless him.
Check out the original video here.
Backstage before the show, Jimmy Fallon, Mariah Carey and The Roots grabbed some instruments you’d find in an elementary school classroom and stopped by the Late Night music room to sing Mariah’s holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
If you aren’t already in the holiday spirit, this video will make you feel like you just chugged a mug of warm cocoa by the fireplace while someone blows mini paper snowflakes by your head. Inviting an elementary school choir join in on the chorus gave their rendition even more heart and you can’t help loving their sparkly red attire.
Don’t forget to check out their version of “Call Me Maybe” with Carly Rae Jepsen. What song do you want to hear them cover next?
Watch it here
There are soo many celeb covers of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” that we’re starting to get sick of them. But here’s why this one rocks:
1) Carly Rae Jepsen is in it! Does that disqualify it as a cover? Anyway, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots are in it too so it’s at least two-thirds of a cover.
2) Plain old guitars are so passe. This version includes a xylophone, tambourine, triangle and a kazoo. All the instruments you’d find in an elementary school. That means we could totally learn it, right?
3) The guy in the fedora makes us so happy. We want to dance with him.
The cover was filmed backstage before Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.
Michael Jackson had some of the most loyal fans in the world. While Conrad Murray awaited his verdict, the world waited too. As some waited outside the courtroom with posters yesterday, some waited with smart phones in hand, ready to tweet their reactions.
Hop-hop singer Nicki Minaj tweeted: ”People are cheering but there really are no winners here,” Minaj tweeted. “This has been an utter tragedy from beginning to end. #RIPMichaelJackson.”
Michael’s siter Latoya Jackson tweeted: “”VICTORY!!!!!! Michael I love you and I will continue to fight until ALL are brought to justice! Thank you EVERYONE for your love and support! It will ALWAYS be appreciated!”
CNN host Piers Morgan tweeted: “#ConradMurray didn’t deliberately kill #MichaelJackson, but his negligent actions allowed the death to occur.”
A member of the Roots, Questlove, tweeted: “Guilty. Now what?” and he even retweeted something Conrad Murray wrote, suggesting he believes Conrad is innocent.
YouTube favourite Karmin, along with Questlove and Owen Biddle from ‘The Roots,’ have released an acoustic version of Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass.’
This cover is amazing. Not only is it a full-on jam session because of all the special guests, but the lead singer’s voice really gives the song a unique spin.
She kind of draws attention to the lyrics, and strips the song down to a bare minimum to give it a new meaning. I also love how effortlessly she raps. For a white girl, she has some serious rhythm. Minaj better watch her back.
Check it out below and let us know what you think! Great cover, or will nobody ever do justice to the original?
Just when you didn’t think it was possible, Stephen Colbert has turned Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” into somewhat of decent tune. In conjunction with music legends The Roots, the performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was actually really well done. This all happened after Colbert promised to perform “Friday” if Jimmy Fallon raised $26,000 for charity. Does this mean now that Rebecca Black actually has a positive contribution to offer the world?
Having just hosted a Jazz and Comedy festival only a few weeks ago, Montreal was once again the pearl of Canada this past weekend with the undeniable success of the Osheaga Music and Arts festival- a two day event filled with performances beginning at 1:00pm all the way until 11:00pm.
As Saturday would feature notable acts such as Jason Mraz, The Roots, K’naan, The Stills, Girltalk and above all, the grandmaster Coldplay, andPOP decided to venture down to La Belle Province for day no. 1.
But something funny happened by the end of our trip. Not only did we go from being pale skinned to maple brown sunburned, but we also went from being a concert reviewer to a behind-the-scenes explorer.
With four different stages and acts scheduled at similar time slots, we had to pick and choose which musical path our day would lead towards.
This is our story.
2:30 pm- I begin my journey in Hell’s Kitchen. Beautiful sunny day in Montreal, but sweltering 30 degree Celsius heat. For some reason though, the crowd seems to want to stand through it for acoustic rock performer Donavon Frankenreiter at the Mountain Stage. The musician and also pro surfer gathers a trickling crowd with an immediate groovy set- reminiscent of longtime pal Jack Johnson.
Part of that next batch of sunshine tune-fellows like Johnson, Ben Harper, Matt Costa and G. Love, Frankenreiter ignites the festival’s spirit with his variety of catchy soothing numbers- most notably It Don’t Matter, which leads fans into a massive chant. A laid-back Frankenreiter even lets a lucky fan help him belt out the chorus, sending the crowd into rave cheers.
The 2009 Cutting Edge Music Festival (CEMF) is bringing The Roots to Kitchener/Waterloo for two days of live music, camping and partying. The two-day event runs from August 1-3 and marks the band’s exclusive appearance in Ontario this summer.
“The festival will be host to over 50 different performances by some of the biggest names in the music scene. With two live rock stages and a pounding dance warehouse, this is no ordinary music festival!”, CEMF partner Carey Kurtin said in a statement.
Currently in its fourth year, CEMF is a unique festival that includes music, water slides and the Smirnoff Dance Warehouse. The event includes performances by The Bronx, Ten Second Epic, Lady Sovereign, Dead and Divine, Moneen and many others. The roster of Canadian talent features Protest the Hero, Thunderheist and illScarlett.
The Roots have announced details of their second annual hometown “Roots Picnic,” which will take place June 6 at Festival Pier in Philadelphia.
Among the performers handpicked by the hip-hop band are TV on the Radio, Public Enemy, The Black Keys and Santigold.
According to Billboard, Public Enemy will perform their landmark 1988 album, “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” in its entirety, backed by The Roots and Afrobeat band Antibalas. It will mark the first time Public Enemy have performed the album with a live band.
The Roots are well on their way to recovery after a serious bus crash in France Wednesday, even managing to keep a concert date the next day.
The band was en route to Paris to open for Kanye West when their tour bus lost control and flipped, leaving the front end of the double-decker vehicle suspended in the air and a van pinned underneath.
Luckily, everyone emerged with minor, if any, injuries.
Roots member ?uestlove was even able to blog about the incident almost immediately after it happened: “well…since we are sitting on the side of the road. what better way to pass the time while the ambulance comes then to….blog.”
Later, he gave a detailed account of the events, describing how he’d been sleeping when the crash occurred:
“next thing i knew was the most surreal feeling ever….was i upside down? why am i covered in cereal? oh shit….that coffee pot is coming for my face!!!” he wrote.
“in reality the crash was all of about 7 seconds….but to do a 360 on the highway and end up ramped up (the van that crashed into ours was UNDER our double decker bus) in the air….is….well…a frigging miracle.”
Some of the band suffered “cuts and (had) neck braces on” following the accident, wrote ?uestlove, but were otherwise okay.
“that was divine intervention. we are so grateful for this outcome,” he concluded.
You can read ?uestlove’s full account of the accident here.
Despite initial uncertainty about whether The Roots would make it to the Kanye show, all of the group members did in fact appear on stage Thursday night for their slot on the “Glow In The Dark” tour.
The band, who released their tenth album, “Rising Down,” in April, have a slew of European dates lined up through to December.
With stories about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina still flooding the newswires, several more prominent musicians have stepped up to help in the relief efforts.
Pearl Jam have added an extra date to their North American tour in the fall that will benefit victims of Katrina. The rare club show at Chicago?s House of Blues Oct. 5 will sell for $1,000 per ticket and go on sale this Saturday.
All net proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and the Jazz Foundation of America.
It is not yet known if the show will feature additional acts or be available for download on Pearl Jam?s recently launched digital bootleg store, a spokesperson told Billboard.
For their part, The Roots have called upon Jill Scott, TV On The Radio and Deerhoof for a Friday show at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. The musicians will be donating their performance fees to the NAACP’s hurricane relief program.
The TBC Brass Band, whose members were evacuated to Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento, Calif., in the wake of Katrina, will also play at the show.
In additional concert news, a Katrina benefit at the Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre Sept. 22 will feature Tenacious D, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme with Jesse “The Devil” Hughes, Fiona Apple and comedians David Cross and Sarah Silverman.
Tickets for that show go on sale Friday via Ticketmaster.
Meanwhile, a digital EP from Coldplay went on sale at Apple’s iTunes Music Store Wednesday, with all proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.
The EP includes the band’s new single “Fix You,” as well as “The World Turned Upside Down” (left over from sessions for the group’s latest Capitol album “X&Y” and also featured on the new War Child record ?Help: A Day In The Life?), a live take on the non-album track “Pour Me” and a live version of “Fix You” from a summer show in Arnhem, Holland.
