@Goldie
The Roots TRANSCEND Hip Hop.
You claim that there's, "at least 40 groups that have had a bigger impact and overall better groups than The Roots."
First of all, no there's not
Second of all, of those 40 groups, how many of them are just a Hip Hop group that made good music, and how many of them transcend the genre?
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5
Run DMC
NWA
Public Enemy
A Tribe Called Quest
De La Soul
Bone Thugs
The Lox
Mobb Deep
Outkast
^^^ Those are 10 groups that DEFINE Hip Hop. In other words, if somebody didn't know what Hip Hop is, you could play those 10 artists Greatest Hits albums and you'd get a clear understanding of what Hip Hop is.
Furthermore, every single one of those groups outsold The Roots
But The Roots transcend that because they don't sample, they don't have a DJ, their MC is a top tier MC, as far as spitting is concerned. He might not be as good at making catchy hit singles, but that's not what The Roots do.
The Roots are a middle finger to all the people that looked down on rap music because "they don't play instruments". Not only do The Roots play instruments, but their MC is as good as it gets.
@Goldie you might be too young to remember, but in the 80s people said, "Rap isn't music"which was kinda true at the time. Especially when people started sampling. You'd have an album and every song is a sample. How is that music?
But The Roots came and saved the day. There's no more (White) people saying "Rap isn't music" because you can point to The Roots and say, "yeah it is".
