The roots - what they do

[KoolTeddyX]

Classic!!!

[koco7]

never do what they do

[Lovelytrini82]

this is the type of music that we need our children to listen to..not the stuff that they promote which is nonsense..

i love da roots

[DaHustla6060]

Why is this video flagged??? One of my fav Roots songs though.

[yesumMassa]

because its not suitable for the pop audience. too much truth in it, might hurt their feelings.

[LilBoyFreshly]

One of my favourite Hip-Hop Videos Ever!!!!!

[LyriQTheVerbalist]

I think this is my favorite hip hop video of all time

[manonmission08]

the irony is these are the same steps to make a rap video now-a-days...and when this song came out, early '90's...watchin this makes me realize just how watered down the rap game is now-a-days...forget wayne,jim jones, rick ross, im going backwards to catch up on the roots, common, tribe called quest, de la soul, etc

[batchcookies]

i agree!

[turkapache]

me 2 ^^

[hiphopid]

PEACE TO THAT!!!!

[framil54]

great song and im glad to see theres some fresh new artists coming out with good music again like how this used to be back in the day..check out the main video on my page..up and coming hip hop/jazz band called ArtOfficial...your welcome

[inumenka35]

this one is a classic.

LOVE THIS JAM ITS DA BOMB!!!

[koidaboi]

digging black thought's verse!

[ireach]

i like the message this video sent. & it doesn't hurt that it's funny too

[magikarp033]

the 'no logos in the shot' shot might be the funniest caption, because its so realistic

[auhosj877]

im not a huge fan of this song, but this has gotta be the best video ever. i have no problem with generic rap videos but this is still really really funny.

[Mevr328]

amazing song

hilarious video

[Kingfish019]

who in their right mind flagged this video...great song and a hilarious video

[caspadfg]

the crew themselves

[mxserr]

yo! that kid blackthought is the greatest mc in the world son! "my man came over & said yo! we thought we heard you? jokes on you! you heard a bitin' ass crew!"

[hiphoplove1111]

love this video !

[supermario2100]

Great song, great video. One of the funniest and most true videos made. These guys are awesome.

[Cerqrik]

*severe butt cramp* rofl

[pepijagarzekje]

Why is this video labeled as "Not suitable for minors"? Maybe I'm the only one with such a twisted mind I don't see anything explicit?

[pleziermetrogier]

really nice! Roots !

[ccpickre]

So why is the one in the Universal category textless? The pop ups are what made this video A: Gold, and B: Funny as balls.

[ccpickre]

Not to mention it ties in to the theme of the song

[FreddyDMV]

Because it caused them feud with other rapers that misunderstood the message.

[MrPiSt0Le]

my favorite song ever in any genre. it's truly a classic

[nicoarango]

The jazzy/blues guitar is sweet

[DaRocStreetball]

one of the best songs ever!!

[kicuville]

fuck nowadays rappers... we used to have music

[hotsauce8984]

yeah man think about the mid 90's. You got Nas, Pac, Big, The Roots, Jay-Z, and so much more real hip-hop.

[auhosj877]

3 of those are still making records...actually 4 cause 2pacs had like 15 albums since he died

[fsumpter]

Now this had me laughing with the captions!! I love this song!

[Toxikox]

What idiot flagged it.

[raininmyst]

Great video! Is that Raphael Saddiq singing the chorus??

[MrStefN]

Yes it is

[tarzanofcouches]

Great video to a truly great hip hop song. Great satire of an element of the rap industry. The beat and lyrics are awesome, more people should make music like this.

[djfu74]

Hot ass track.

[orest83]

Damnnn Spliffen on Some good weed and remember BAck on the good 90`s

Hip Hop is Death!!!

[wegodave]

luve the old days was my summer hit years ago

think back

[JDA315]

classic vid "token white model" haha this vid tells a real message about the rap game ten years before the shit goin on now

[mguer007]

"never do what they do" that statement is very powerful, i believe that every city range of radio station should have an alternative hip hop station playing these kind of songs, and hell this should be played everywhere more often!

[Stromi100]

ulala...i didn't see the video in a looong time...nice !

[TeddyPalcer]

HAHAHAHAHAHAA!! Eating cantelope!

[monterey725]

Great message in in the song and video! We need to reclaim R E A L hiphop and bring it back to how it use to be when rappers were more conscious and had more substance to their rhymes!!

[ysgtimothy23]

This video dropped at the onset of the Willie era of rap.

Funniest video I've seen...clowned the industry somethin' crazy!

"Hip Hop over Hip-Pop all day, everyday"

[yogigustav]

why is this video flagged?

[kicuville]

LUPE FIASCO, YOUNG JOC, YOUNG DRO, RICH BOY, TI, KANYE, all of you mathafackas need to get your asses seated and take a break and learn how rap, you aonly make kiddy songz look at what RAP used to be, feel me, yáll need to get beaten.

[TeddyPalcer]

Lupe can actually rap. His music is much better than most of these "Commercial" rappers.

[DCrepresenter]

Why did you say lupe.Most people think he is a great rapper who doesn't follow the mainstream act.

[MTWENTY]

ay bruh don't put Lupe n Kanye in thurr, dose dudes actually have lyrics

[kicuville]

KANYE can make beats but its verry different with a guy who can rap with a good flow, LUPE is straight wack just a small joker of the day

[MTWENTY]

Ay how can Lupe be wack, especially when u compare him ot other fake ass rappers like Soulja Boy or Young Jeezy n shit.....Lupe compared to those niggaz is like 2Pac to 50 Cent, no comparsion

[kicuville]

ya i feel you but to me i dont even consider those new rappers like YOUNG JEEZY,SOULJA BOY,... all of small boys are nothin to me

[TheShaolinKid]

Damn..why you've mentioned TI and Lupe? both are sick rappers

[MTWENTY]

see, true hip hop artists know how to rap, the roots know how to rap......and know fuckin well how much Hip Hop videos are commercialized even 10 years later they still use these types of things....luv this vid

[nextlevel85]

This version is hilarious! especially when the video girl pulls her muscle in her behind at the end shaking too much!

[crazychiq]

I love the Roots

[alertgamer]

So true...

Roots belong to real Hip-Hop for sure. No doubt about that.

[alexuniversoul]

yo get it str8 hiphop never died! its just been concealed..itll come back watch...because hiphop arent the record labels, hiphop are the people!

[alexuniversoul]

yo get it str8 hiphop never died! its just been concealed..itll come back watch...because hiphop are not the record sales hiphop are the people!

[oteezay]

is it too early to mourn? is it too late to ride?

[Dugan95]

it's funny that this song is over a decade old and all these cliches are still used today in many rap videos

[boricualinkz]

more sad than funny to me

[FirstClassHeel]

When he said "funny" he meant "ironic"...I think.

[druha10304]

And....this video isnt working , god damn fuck is wrong with youtube

[djlocskeet]

Some of your favorite rappers and record labels didn't want this video to see the light of day when it came out.

[toadian21]

i believe you on that note. They don't want to be exposed for what they really are.

[ThoasBrand]

this song is before hip hop died

[Down10]

This video lays it out -- rap video clichés are tired. Right down to the bottles of champagne in paper bags.

[etalem]

They are so freaking dope!!! Real Hip Hop at it's greatest right here!!!

[chrisSVT]

what a great, great song!

[Lifeofliya]

Oh my days!! This brings back memories!! I first saw this vid on a program called flava on Channel 4!! was such a good programe can't find it anywhere now!! :(

[skibbadeebo]

my faorite rap tune of all time. hiphop exposed!! hehe

[onelovedrifterfan]

I love it! But what sux is...Truth...dont always make you money...or feed your family.

The change has to come from the music industry...not just the artists.

Peace and Love Yall!

[cookiemnster73]

Naw change has to come from the people. If KRS, or Roots, or De La, sold as much as Kanye, or Kelly Clarkson every MC would be droppin' truth, and positive jams, the industry would demand it. If you love real hip hop like you say you do, go out and buy it. It is out there.

[fsumpter]

I agree, u made a good point!

[kuntere]

i love black thought he is so conscious and intelligent he is the truth. black people need to get knowledge of their blackness in every aspect. your parents did a good job . You can see the light in black thought.

[mhaze210]

some parts of this video are so funny. The Roots are forever ill like Nas. this shit is so mellow it reminds me something...i need to spark this bowl up!!!

[byron84]

wow watching this video gave me a severe butt cramp lol the roots are the shit

[Hypedhopes19]

haha this is funny,never saw it before the pitbull is only annoying cause allot of people copy it ,you see it al the time 5 dudes and a pitbull.i like dmx though

[crespo03]

i have to say... this is in the top 3 best videos i have ever seen. i think the roots are the realest group out there. i mean how many bands have a drummer, a bassist and a singer and sound as awesome as the roots? legends in the making right here!

[donfula]

The thurth will free you, open your eyes and see.

[vidmaster405]

i really like this video/song cuz he has a really good point,this hip hop vids are okay until they get played out and u start seeing the same thing all over again im not hating on mainstreem rappers but please rappers change the style up . this is just a suggestion maybe im wrong im not a rapper on video producer so it could be hard coming up with a whole bunch of ideas who ever agrees with me say t who ever disagrees with me say f

[vidmaster405]

i agree with the roots hip hop is sort of dying out but i aint feeling what hes saying about time square.

[danimonee]

For the dude that said this isn't Hip-Hop or to say that this was whack because they are rappers talking about Rapping...this was the whole purpose of the song..lol..they were informing people of how hip-hop is so fake these days and making a joke out of it you are waaaayyy too serious man and for R&B singers tell them to stop trying to be like rappers because that is whack as hell to me..lol..I don't need to say names y'all know who I'm talkng about;-)

[purplebyrds]

BET officialy became mountain cliff with the dignity MUSICIANS had

[sbenesa]

cant believe it's been more than 10 years since this came out... the roots had it dead on, funny how fools still make videos exactly like this. urthogie, you say it's played out but at the time this video was made ('96), it needed to be said. you're tired of rappers like the roots that rap about rapping but u should be tired of the same ole shit being pumped out the past 5 years. flip to BET for an hour on any given night and you will see every example this video mocks. now THAT'S played out.

[toadian21]

you ain't lying!! I can't even watch BET videos anymore!

[lyricallyundefined]

AMEN!!! THANK YOU! Your not the only one who feels the same way I feel about the music. I feel you all the way!!!

[flaggersaregay]

why the fuck is this flagged?! Flaggers are seriously GAY.

Great song.

[stowman]

screw you, you dont even know the principles of true hip hop!

[urthogie]

I'm tired of hearing rappers rap about rapping. Definitely not a banger, sorry Roots.

[zideeq]

rapping is an art, how about you tell Rn'B to stop chatting the same shit about love? oh wait THATS THE FUCKING PURPOSE

[urthogie]

You apparently didn't read my comment. R and B singers don't sing about singing R and B. Singing about love, or rapping about it, is cool. Rapping about rapping is played out.

[sweetadeline133]

Yeah, you should have complained earlier because you're about 10 years too late

[surfRiDer101]

one of my favorites...yes zir

[WickedNemesis]

okay player. this is my jam

[zctpnd01]

Who the hell flagged this video!

[toadian21]

Probably some joker who likes Ja Rule.

[toadian21]

severe butt cramp! LOL

[waldemaros]

this is real hip hop. that song is great.

[afroponk]

very rare to c pure hip hop these days.

this is just beautiful.

[bsurbs]

genius. real hip hop. okay player.

[charlyblues]

so beautiful it hurts

[ashez721]

LOL this video was all out hilarious

[WickedNemesis]

Outkast, The Roots, Wu- Tang, and Ice Cube have influenced my life so much. Airplanes and trains, short days and long nights forever!!!!

[rakettgutten]

true classic. remember this as one of my favourites at that point of time. illadelph.

[sickemdudley01]

A great satirical look at materialism in hip hop. Awesome vid.

[jason99699]

This video pretty much sums up the career Puff Daddy (or P. Diddy...or H.R. Puffenstuff...or whatever the hell he's calling himself these days...) -- nice clip, love the Roots!!!

[tyefrmny]

As always, the Roots are on point !

[Organix84]

This was the joint

[turboak]

instant vintage..

[aizik5]

another classic by the roots.

[djbricktop]

MIght be my fave Roots track of all time. Songs like this force me not to give up on rap music....in spite of all the hot garbage. Nobody does it like these cats. Props to the Roots forreal.

[FloridaSoulBrotha]

Another classic song and video from one of my favourite groups of all time.

[pocura]

real hip hop !!!

[maswel]

Thanks, I really love this one!

[Anthonytheone]

The video states where The Roots can be spotted in Rap music : way beyond everything, with so much intelligence & honesty ! Props to ?uestlove & Black Thought. Let's love them now because when they gone.....

[magnnum01]

An ill video from one of classic hip-hop acts of this generation.

[prevster]

ow man, the memories.. I used to watch this vid over and over. Illadelphia Halflife was classic pure music..

These are artists as opposite to all them rappers raping my culture..

so beautiful it hurts

[thelonious1]

And to this day, people still repeat these same habits in music videos..I guess The Roots was just putting it out there.

[Ironman87]

Great video, great song, great group.  One of the best out of the Illadelph, if not the best.

[EBL]

I really do miss this video... This song and video is what really got me deep into hip hop.

[subart]

Landmark video.Reminded real heads that there was still somewhere to go after Tribe.

[abelmendes]

The Roots as the name says, they are one of the best Hip Hop groups perfoming live. And this video hos hot.

[ziggyjuarez]

Nice.I love the roots:D