Ok, here's a few jefleejohnson-esque ideas :

I'd let them do an album with nothing but features ... (like the Brand New Heavies did, only updated & better) : have Rakim, Nas, KRS, Kool G Rap, Kane, J-Live, Pharoahe, Akhenaton & Shurik'N (French), Q-Tip, Gangstarr, MC Mello & Jonzi D (UK), Eminem, ... riming along with Thought and the band.

Either that or NOT ONE single feature outside the Roots camp

Musicwise I'd ask for input by Quincy Jones, Toots Thielemans, Marcus Miller, Renée Neufville, ...

Include a drummer battle on a song, for instance ?uest vs Poogie Bell (e.g. each doing one verse), or ?uest vs a dj (Q-Bert or A-Trak).

Include the occasional freestyle session/studio outtake as interludes and you have a hiphop album like we haven't seen in over a decade, where artists gather based on music, not on what the label or the management wants.

Don't know if it's possible though, the way hiphop is much more business than music now (compared to early 90's), and of course it would only confirm the Roots' status as perfect hiphop band (which we already know), and maybe shine more light on the featured artists than on the Roots themselves.

Another route would be to skip the big names (and their big fees), and work with a slew of talented but unknown people.

And spend less time in expensive studios, and build your own instead, or at least do the tracking at 'home' and only mix at Sigma or Electric Lady.

Just some ideas.




krewcial
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