When hip-hop visionaries the Roots were seeking a title for their new album, the groupΓÇÖs members borrowed the name of a book about the negative impact of colonialism and Christianity on a remote Nigerian village. "Things Fall Apart is a pretty powerful selection of words," notes the groupΓÇÖs Black Thought. "We could have called the album Nothing Lasts Forever or DonΓÇÖt Take Anything For Granted, but Things Fall Apart was the strongest way to get our point across." The artist correlates modern-day hip-hop with the village in the story; the current commercialism of the genre is the colonialism that destroyed that villageΓÇÖs traditions. "Maybe we took it for granted and it happened right under our noses," the artist reflects about rapΓÇÖs distillation at the hands of the greedy record biz. "The stories definitely parallel." Graphically, the Roots are pushing this theme through multiple album covers and gripping videos that depict historic and troubling images in African American culture. The shots, many of which appear in the powerful video "You Got Me," are designed to hold a mirror up to society, Black Thought says. LAUNCH holds a mirror up to him and his high school friend and Roots drummer ?uestlove in this provocative interview. See the LAUNCH live performance of their groupΓÇÖs "You Got Me" shot in New York.
