In case you needed any more reminders, Black Thought is quite possibly the Greatest Rapper Of All Times. DJ Jazzy Jeff, for his part, is pretty much the top contender for Greatest DJ In The Entire World, year in and year out (Today show be damned). Put them together and you got a G.O.A.T. jamwich (hold the curry) made to Philly-famous hoagie proportions. Which is why this jamwich-building workshop that Thought and Jeff conducted to warm up the crowd on a recent taping of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is a priceless little artifact of rap history, even though for these two gentleman it’s the equivalent of what doing a few push-ups to get the blood flowing in the morning is for me.

Shot on a cameraphone by our some-remain-nameless Okayplayer mole inside the Fallon organization, this footage is clearly not of the archival quality the conservationists here at the G.O.A.T. museum would prefer for our permanent collection. But the audio is clear and we have a good view of Thought and Jeff at work–and as I’ve said many times, if the footage is from Mars, nobody gives a damn if the camera is a little shaky. All of which leads me to ponder; skip all these other cameos and supergroups–can we get a Black Thought and DJ Jazzy Jeff concept album?? They could call it Black Jazz and the concept would be ‘We Are The Shit’. Don’t believe me, juh watch:

The post Black Thought x Jazzy Jeff Warm Up The Crowd At Jimmy Fallon appeared first on Okayplayer.

Streets been talking about Bill Cosby‘s appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. And yet! If not for the vigilance of LargeUp, would’ve missed the most important part of the whole show–ie Cosby’s extended skank to Black Uhuru‘s “Sponji Reggae,” as selected by The Roots for his walk-on music.In fact, Cosby was catching such a vibe from the classic rhythm–made famous by it’s use on Cosby Show bit featuring Lisa Bonét‘s character and a would-be boyfriend–that the skank becomes a sort of spontaneous skit/stand-up routine, and goes on so long that The Roots have to make up some other walk-on music for Cosby’s second, actual, walk-0n. LargeUp’s reggae radar is unparalleled generally but they have already weighed in on the historical importance of “Sponji Reggae” x Cosby in previous posts, including the must-read Hollywood’s Top 10 Worst Jamaican Accents. So I will let them tell the story…hit the links at bottom to watch both the hilarious Fallon moment and the original Cosby Show segment, but find a quick viewers guide below:

- “Hey, Mon!” ad-libs are a special Cosby dub version, not on the original

- Cosby doesn’t remember the track until ?uestlove reminds him.

- ?uesto pronounces it “Spoon-ji Reggae,” possibly conflating the title with old school rapper Spoonie Gee in the heat of the moment.

- Cosby also admits he doesn’t really like reggae because it’s like “walking with one leg shorter than the other”

-If you listen close, you can hear his appendix burst

>>>Watch Bill Cosby x The Roots – “Sponji Reggae” (via LargeUp)

>>>Watch D.Original Cosby Show “Sponji Reggae” Segment (via LargeUp)

The post LargeUp Video: Bill Cosby Skanks To The Roots Playing “Sponji Reggae” On Jimmy Fallon appeared first on Okayplayer.

We told you Shuggie Otis was about to come back out and mess the whole music game up. If you missed him killing this live rendition of “Inspiration Information”–a legitimate contender for Best Song Ever–with The Roots live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night, then you missed everything. All of it. The whole shebang.

Not really–you can still watch it here (scroll down/you’re welcome) and pre-order his new double LP Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love–a remastered release of the classic LP combined with an album’s worth of new and unheard material–by hitting the link below:

>>>Pre-Order Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love (via iTunes) 

The post Shuggie Otis x The Roots – “Inspiration Information” Live On Jimmy Fallon appeared first on Okayplayer.

Last night, Major Lazer made their television debut with an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Diplo‘s dancehall gang performed “Get Free” with assistance from Dirty Projectors‘ Amber Coffman, David Longstreth and The Roots. The track can be found on their forthcoming album Free The Universe, due April 16th. Pre-Order via iTunes.

The post Major Lazer x Dirty Projectors + The Roots – “Get Free” Live on Jimmy Fallon appeared first on Okayplayer.

UPDATE: ?uestlove broke his silence on the subject of the whether The Roots will follow Jimmy Fallon when he moves to the Tonight Show, speaking to Fuse TV at today’spop up performance for RBMA. ?uesto starts off by pointing out that “The Tonight Show is coming to us” and reaffirming what we’ve been saying all along, ie that The Roots will stay with Fallon for the move. However as he points out, all that is “still a year away…anything could happen.” Watch below for the full Q&A:

Even before yesterday’s official statement from NBC announcing Jay Leno‘s departure from The Tonight Show after 22 years to be replaced by Jimmy Fallon in the spring of 2014, rumors were flying and one question kept coming up: Will The Roots be joining him? Of course, to us, the question seems a bit silly because…a Jimmy Fallon talk show without The Roots band? Imagine–how would that even work, exactly? I mean, who would slow-jam news?

So will ?uesto may have to get used to being called ‘The Funk Doc Severinson’? The fact is, the official statements have made no mention of The Roots, and both Jimmy and ?uestlove have been keeping quiet on the subject. Meanwhile, Black Thought and percussionist Frank Knuckles have let it be known via twitter that the band is staying. Nothing can officially be confirmed but it’s our understanding that Jimmy has every intention of taking The Roots with him–and why wouldn’t he? The band have been instrumental in making the show what it is…don’t believe us, juh watch (scroll down)

The post Will The Roots Move To The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon? appeared first on Okayplayer.