Another Okayplayer.com referral, with sharp ghetto visuals by BBGun. I really like this track; it has me excited to hear the Roots’ new album, How I Got Over, which is scheduled to drop before the end of the year. Black Thought has a rusty, evocative voice, and I hope he does more singing. (And no, I don’t watch Jimmy Kimmel’s Jimmy Fallon’s wack-ass talk show just to see them play.)

Common and the Roots (pictured above, of course) will host this year’s edition of the “Hennessy Artistry Series.” It takes place in four urban markets — Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and New York — and will give attendees an opportunity to stock up on samples of free liquor. Lifestyle marketing gimmicks aside, the Roots are a dependable live act, and they’ll play house band for a lineup headed by Common and, in select cities, Colin Munroe, Elizabeth the Band and Elevator Fight.

Tickets to the events will be distributed via a contest. You can register for it at hennessyartistry.com.

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Yes, the Roots are the saving grace house band for the painfully unfunny late night talk show “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” and they’re working on a new album, How I Got Over, for an October release, et cetera. But touring’s still their bread and butter.

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Last week’s hip-hop news bits, both relevant and irrelevant:

• Charles Hamilton concludes The Hamiltonization Factor (iamnotcharleshamilton.com), but not without some controversy (smokingsection.uproxx.com)
• Busy week for Hamilton: Interscope pays him to aid Soulja Boy’s quixotic marketing campaign (2dopeboyz.com) (charleshamilton.blogspot.com)
• Busta Rhymes criticized for “Arab Money” single (daveyd.com) (allhiphop.com)
• Kanye co-signs Consequence for new deal with Universal/Motown (sohh.com)
• Bands complain about U.S. government using their songs in torture sessions (telegraph.co.uk via Idolator.com)
• J-Zone, DJ Nu-Mark contribute to Andy Samberg’s forthcoming Lonely Island project (mtv.com)
• Live: Wale, December 9 at Highline Ballroom, New York (nahright.com)
• New internet-ish: Benn Grimm from Cardboard City’s The Nutmeg (rapidshare.com), Mick Boogie and Judah’s Hype Club (pressplayfashionforward.com), Gemstones from Lupe Fiasco’s FNF crew’s Xclusive Series Vol. 3: Gemstones (2dopeboyz.com), DJ Benzi’s The New Deal (10deep.com)

December 15 update:

• NBC’s forthcoming Late Night With Jimmy Fallon hires the Roots as its full-time band (okayplayer.com)

The Roots are currently on tour with Gym Class Heroes throughout October. UK “American Boy” soul singer Estelle is opening on most dates.

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Don’t worry, I’m not going to compile every tidbit filtering out of the legendary Roots crew. That’s what Okayplayer.com is for. (And more power to them; they make an amazing site.) But as one of the all-time greats, the Philadelphia hip-hop band do things that often resonate beyond its rabidly loyal fanbase.

First up: the forthcoming Roots Picnic. Rap star-curated festivals are nothing new — I remember Living Legends’ Unsigned & Hella Broke jams back in the day, and even the Roots used to do the Black Lily showcases. But this picnic promises to be a next level affair, with scheduled appearances from Gnarls Barkley (who are weathering some punishingly mediocre reviews for The Odd Couple), Diplo, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Santogold, Deerhoof, J*Davey, Esperanza and the Cool Kids. It goes down June 7 at the Festival Pier in Philly, and tickets go on sale Saturday, March 29.

Meanwhile, Al Green is releasing his long-anticipated collaboration with Questlove and James Poyser. Scheduled for release on May 27 via Blue Note, Lay It Down includes guest shots from Corinne Bailey Rae, John Legend and Anthony Hamilton.

Before that comes the Roots’ Rising Down, which drops April 29 on Def Jam. I haven’t posted the track listing so, hell, here it is. And just for kicks, here are the tour dates, too. (April 22 update: The itinerary has been updated.)

• 1. “The Pow Wow”
• 2. “Rising Down” (feat. Mos Def & Styles P)
• 3. “Get Busy” (feat. Dice Raw, Peedi Crack & DJ Jazzy Jeff)
• 4. “@15″
• 5. “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)”
• 6. “(Time Up)”
• 7. “Criminal” (feat. Saigon & Truck North)
• 8. “I Will Not Apologize” (feat. P.O.R.N. & Dice Raw)
• 9. “I Can’t Help It” (feat. Malik B & P.O.R.N.)
• 10. “Singing Man” (feat. Truck North & P.O.R.N.)
• 11. “Up There (Unwritten)” (feat. Mercedes Martinez)
• 12. “Lost Desire” (feat. Talib Kweli & Malik B)
• 13. “The Show” (feat. Common)
• 14. “Rising Up” (feat. Chrisette Michelle & Wale)
• 15. “Birthday Girl” (feat. Patrick Stump)

Here are the tour dates:

• 3/29: Millikin University, Decatur, IL
• 3/30: Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 4/05: University of Texas, Austin, TX
• 4/07: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
• 4/09: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
• 4/11: Pickle Barrell Nightclub, Killington, VT
• 4/16: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• 4/17: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
• 4/18: Webster University, St. Louis, MO
• 4/20: National Mall, Washington, DC
• 4/26: Tigerfest Towson University, Towson, MD
• 5/03: Fair Grounds Race Course, New Orleans, LA
• 5/04: Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
• 5/06: University of Montreal, Montreal, QC
• 5/08: The Orpheum, Boston, MA
• 5/09: Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
• 5/10: The Pier, Baltimore, MD
• 5/11: Crocodile Rock, Allentown, PA
• 5/14: Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
• 5/15: Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
• 5/16: Chrysler Hall, Norfolk, VA
• 5/17: Special Events Center, Greensboro, NC
• 5/18: Landmark Theater, Richmond, VA
• 5/20: Misner Park, Boca Raton, FL
• 5/23: Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA
• 5/24: Three Sisters Park, Chillicothe, IL
• 5/25: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• 5/27: Andrew Jackson Hall, Nashville, TN
• 5/29: Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO
• 5/30: Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL
• 5/31: Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL
• 6/01: Harrah’s Concil Bluff, Concil Bluff, IO
• 6/02: Fillmore Theater, Denver, CO
• 6/03: The Depot, Salt Lake City, UT
• 6/04: Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
• 6/05: Marymoor Park, Seattle, WA
• 6/06: TLA, Philadelphia, PA
• 6/07: Festival Pier, Philadelphia, PA
• 6/08: Paramount Theater, Oakland, CA
• 6/10: Humphrey’s Theater, San Diego, CA
• 6/12: Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
• 6/13: Linn Park, Birmingham, AL
• 6/14: Mesa Amphitheater, Phoenix, AZ
• 6/15: Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM
• 6/17: Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
• 6/18: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 6/19: House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
• 6/22: Genesee Valley Park, Rochester, NY
• 7/04: Lake Michigan, Milwaukee, WI

4/20: Green Apple Festival
5/03: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
5/04-5/10, 5/14-5/23, 5/27-5/31, 6/02, 6/05, 6/08-6/12, 6/14-6/15: w/Erykah Badu
5/24: Summer Camp Festival
5/25: Jazz Reggae Festival
6/06: w/Santogold, the Randy Watson Experience, Janelle Monae
6/07: Roots Picnic
6/13: City Stages Festival
6/22: Rochester Music Festival
7/04: Summerfest

www.myspace.com/theroots

Visitors to Okayplayer.com will notice that the hype machine is in full gear for the next Roots opus. Their eighth album, Rising Down, is scheduled for release via Def Jam on April 29.

To stoke the online faithful, the Roots has released a new video for their debut “street” single, “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction).” (You can download the video at Okayplayer.com.) They’ve also unveiled the first wave of dates for what will undoubtedly be a long and extensive world tour. And finally, the Roots have a new bassist to replace founding bassist Hub, who left the group in 2007: bassist Owen Biddle.

No track listing has been revealed yet. However, several song titles have been carefully leaked to satisfy the online rabble, including an “official” first single, “Birthday Girl,” with Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump. “We don’t know if we’re gonna have another chance for a grand statement,” Questlove told MTV.com. “We’re not playing. This is probably our most political record.”

Excited yet? Check out the tour dates below.

• 3/07: Langerado Music Festival, Homestead, FL
• 3/08: House of Blues Lake, Buena Vista, FL
• 3/09: Janus Landing, St Petersburg, FL
• 3/29: Millikin University, Decatur, IL
• 3/30: Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 4/05: University of Texas, Austin, TX
• 4/07: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
• 4/09: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
• 4/11: Pickle Barrell Nightclub, Killington, VT
• 4/12: Northeastern University, Boston, MA
• 4/16: Purdue University West, Lafayette, IN
• 4/17: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
• 4/18: Webster University, St. Louis, MO
• 4/20: Green Apple Festival, Washington, DC
• 4/26: Tigerfest Towson University, Towson, MD
• 5/03: Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
• 5/04: House of Blues, New Orleans, LA

www.myspace.com/theroots

Photo by Mel D. Cole

Last month, Questlove of the Roots told Allhiphop.com that the band is working on its 10th full-length album, tentatively called Rising Down.

"We’re trying to make number ten as exciting as number one was, as exciting as number five was," he said. "I’m amped that not many groups get ten opportunities to make a statement. Not even Hip-Hop, just period. You can’t even count ten records from the same group, that much, maybe on a few fingers. We’re very fortunate, and happy, and we are definitely pushing our envelope again."

It’s great to read that the Roots continue to work on an album-every-two-years schedule, especially since 2006’s Game Theory was excellent. But their main role has always been as hip-hop’s certified road warriors that annually play 100+ concerts around the world. After wrapping up a summer jaunt in Europe, they’ll return to the U.S. under the auspices of thirtysomething entertainment/celebreality channel VH-1.

This particular package is called the VH-1 Hip-Hop Honors Tour, named after the channel’s hall of fame blowout. For those who have seen the band play countless times (like, uh, me), old school legends MC Lyte and Big Daddy Kane will bring some new flavor. Expect plenty of breakbeats and thousand-strong singalongs to "Ain’t No Half Steppin’." The tour is part of a U.S. journey that winds through several late summer festivals, and dates are below.

After enjoying the afterglow of their criminally underrated masterwork Game Theory, perennial road warriors the Roots are finally going on tour. The four month jaunt has already begun in Great Britain and winds through Ireland, South Africa, Japan and Canada before reaching the U.S. in February. It will represent the group’s nationwide tour since Game Theory dropped last August.

As an added bonus, Chicago skateboard enthusiast Lupe Fiasco will open a handful of U.S. dates. Though he has completed several spot dates since issuing Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor in September, fans will have to wait a little bit longer for a full-fledged national jaunt.