The Roots announced their 17th studio album, End Game, all the way back in October — almost a year in the making already. Since then, the band has added drum programmer Stro Elliot to the mix, and, according to a new interview with HipHopDX, they have recorded nearly 300 songs so far.
“The difference between this record and [the ones] that came before it was our longtime collaborator, who’s our manager and producer (Rich Nichols), is no longer with us,” Questlove told said. “Usually, in that situation, [Nichols has] always been the centerpiece, the referee, between all the guys. So, this will be the first time we had to grow up and resolve our own arguments.”
And as for exactly how many songs they have? Well, Quest said that they usually once they hit recording around 100 songs for an album, Nichols would tell them to chill and choosing 14 or so to perfect. This time around, though, they’re going a little overboard: “Right now, we’re at 263. But ideas keep coming. I made the promise that by November 1, we are stopping. And we’re just going to pick a good 14. And I’m certain by then, it’ll be 400 songs.”
So once November 1 comes around, it seems The Legendary Roots Crew will settle down and choose what will appear on End Game, which is the tentative title for the album, meaning it’ll most likely be 2018 by the time the album arrives.
Imagine The Roots’ vaults? I mean, they’re released something like 300 songs. They’ve gotta have 10 times that just stashed away.
During the interview, Questlove also mentioned his next book — the one following something to food about. He said his fourth book “deals a lot with creativity and silence because I feel like the one element that we don’t utilize that’s necessary for creativity is silence and boredom.” It’ll be out in May.
