(AllHipHop News) The Roots last release Undun was a concept album that centered around the fictional character Redford Stevens. The project was a critical success earning the group a Metacritic rating of 88/100 (universal acclaim) and a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.
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Emcee Black Thought tells XXL that The Roots’ next project will also be conceptual. Unlike Undun, And Then You Shoot Your Cousin will present several characters in the storyline instead of focusing on just one.
“It’s not just about just one kind of character, we create quite a few different characters in this record,” said Black Thought. “It’s satire, but in that satire it’s an analysis of some of the stereotypes perpetuated in not only the Hip Hop community, but in the community.”
Besides telling a complete story, The Roots next LP will also be similar to Undun in running time. And Then You Shoot Your Cousin will come in close to Undun’s 38 minutes of music.
“I think right now it’s at maybe 34 minutes; there may be one or two musical things added on to the record that I know is the record at this point. But I don’t think it will be any longer than 36 or 37 minutes in its entirety,” stated Thought. “It’s short enough to digest, but it’s gonna be dense.”
And Then You Shoot Your Cousin is expected to be released sometime this Spring. An exact date has not been announced yet.
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