February 20th, 2009
Fallon Key To The Roots’ Survival
In some quarters, the Roots are catching huge flak for their role as house band on NBC’s soon-to-debut Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: In an interview with the Associated Press, drummer ?uestlove reveals that his friend, saxophonist Branford Marsalis (who was Jay Leno’s bandleader in the early ’90s), warned against doing it, telling the Roots drummer, “You’ll be neutered!” Still, the lousy economy played at least some part in the Roots taking the steady gig:
“This would basically match or surpass what we would make touring 200-plus days out of the year. And, two, this allows us to be home,” he said.
It’s a welcome respite from the road for a band that has always toured extensively. The band — most in their late 30s — are looking forward to living like “normal men,” as ?uestlove says.
“Initially I was a little leery,” said the Roots’ MC, Tariq Trotter, or Black Thought. “I initially was thinking, `Is this just going to be ammo for some other rapper to try to dis me for?’ Like, `Your career is so over now/ You’re a house band for …’ You have to be that many steps ahead of whatever move you’re going to make.”
The idea gradually sunk in, though, Black Thought says, “the further we were sinking into economic disaster.” When the economy went into recession, ticket sales — their chief source of income — started to slow.
And with album sales tanking and the industry in tatters, acts throughout music are considering different ways to make money.
“It was just sounding better and better as the months went on,” said Black Thought. “The pros outweighed the cons.”
