The Roots - The Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live at Blue Note NYC

Thirty years after Do You Want More?!!!??! introduced the world to a hip-hop group built around a full live band rather than a DJ and turntables, The Roots marked the anniversary the only way that made sense, by playing it live. In March 2025, the group took over New York's Blue Note for a three-day, six-show residency, performing their 1995 major-label debut in full alongside deep cuts that hadn't been touched onstage in decades. The Roots Come Alive Too captures that run.

Do You Want More?!!!??! is remembered as a landmark of jazz rap precisely because The Roots refused to play by the genre's rules at the time, building songs around live drums, bass, and keys in an era dominated by boom-bap and G-funk. Three decades on, that same instrumental chemistry is still the band's calling card, and this set leans into it hard, with Questlove's drumming and the band's jazz-schooled musicianship framing Black Thought's still-unmatched command of the mic. Longtime collaborators Ursula Rucker, Dice Raw, and human beatbox Rahzel all make appearances throughout the residency, adding to the sense of a full-circle family reunion rather than a straightforward victory-lap gig.

The album positions itself as a direct sequel to 1999's The Roots Come Alive, one of the most acclaimed hip-hop live albums ever made, and it holds up as a genuine testament to a group that's spent thirty years proving hip-hop and a live band were never mutually exclusive.

This 2LP set is the way to experience that Blue Note residency at home, thunderous drums and all. A must for anyone who considers The Roots one of the best live acts hip-hop has ever produced.