Roots drummer directs VH1 Hip Hop Honors

The plan is to make the tour a platform for hip-hop lovers.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

A hip-hop celebration hits the road.

For the last three years, music network VH1 has been honoring hip-hop legends with a night of music. The annual VHI Hip Hop Honors program matches old school acts with new millennium stars. Overseeing the entire event is The Roots drummer ?uestlove, who acts as the show’s musical director.

Now comes word that socially conscious act The Roots is taking VH1 Hip Hop Honors on the road, with ’90s acts MC Lyte and Big Daddy Kane. The special bill rolls into Cleveland for a date Monday at the House of Blues.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, ?uestlove explains his vision for the inaugural tour, which will feature 20 years of hip-hop. This includes songs from legends such as Special Ed, Wu Tang Clan, Biz Markie, Public Enemy and more.

“I’m trying to make this show 100 percent Roots free,” said ?uestlove (born Ahmir Thompson), calling from his Philadelphia home. “I’m kind of toying with the idea of us doing a portion of the show where we kind of do live beats on stage, might do more freestyling. We might ask for audience participation and just try new routines out, new ideas out.”

Similar to what The Roots has been doing in concert for years, with its nightly in-concert medley of rap classics dubbed “Hip-hop 101,” the VH1 Hip Hop Honors tour will be unrehearsed and improvisational. 

“To me that’s called using the force,” ?uestlove said. “Like not relying on the powers or the easy way out, and trying to achieve a moment of Zen via another alternative way. The show is more or less like a variety show as opposed to opening acts and headliners.

“This is a live version of a mixtape, if you will. A mixtape created by a DJ with ADD.”

For hip-hop lovers

The drummer said he hopes VH1 Hip Hop Honors becomes a platform for The Roots to tour annually with various rap legends. In fact, the idea is to brand the tour as a platform for hip-hop lovers, much like the Scream Tour is billed as a rotating cast of pop rap stars. 

While ?uestlove originally promised no material from The Roots on the upcoming VH1 Hip Hop Honors tour, he later admitted anything is possible, including new tracks from the band’s upcoming studio release “Rising Down.”

Currently being recorded, its tenth studio album is due out next spring and features new tunes “I Will Not Apologize” and the popish “Birthday Girl.” Known for its political banter and social commentary, The Roots is sticking to its successful formula on “Rising Down.”

“The darks are darker and the lights are lighter,” ?uestlove said. “There’s a lot more lighthearted moments on this album, but living in the city you really can’t ignore the fact – even though we’re safe — that you’re living in the murder capital of the United States. You just can’t ignore that fact and just a lot of that awareness is reflected because we’re older men.

“I think hip-hop’s main reaction to when times get tough is sort of like this whole escapism thing and, ‘Let’s party.’ But we’re more mature in our age than when we first started, and it’s just a whole new mindset once you’re in your mid-30s looking at the world.”