With political hip hop losing its voice, Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson spoke with Beat magazine about the veteran group being in a role model position. “Right now we’re just all things to all people. By default, we’ve been placed at the helm of a lot of people’s expectations of hip hop as a political vehicle,” ?uestlove explained. “There are no more black bands with major record deals in the United States. The Roots are the last group of black musicians making pop music on a major label, so there’s a lot of attention on us. The idea of hip hop being used as a political tool, to teach knowledge – I’m not saying that that idea has died out, but as far as majors are concerned that’s a lost idea right now for the United States.”
The full interview at beat.com.au has since been removed.