Its crazy how The Roots are super mainstream with not 1 mainstream hit song.

[smokeurobinson]

You have to be into hip-hop to know songs by The Roots. Its not like Katy Perry or Maroon 5 or Pink were u not really into them but u know a few of their songs when u hear them.

Roots dont have mainstream hits, they have strictly hip-hop hits, like Clones, Proceed, What They Do, Next Movement. Their biggest song broke R&B not necessarily mainstream .


I always felt like The Seed was a failed attempt at mainstream after Break You Off didn't really shake up anything.

No mainstream hit in over 20 years yet in 2016 The Roots are super mainstream courtesy of ?uestloves popular ghost of Billy Preston lookalike image and Jimmy Fallon.

 

[Bugsmoran]

If Brotha Lynch Hung was on the Jimmy Fallon show every night he would be mainstream too

 

[Olu Dara]

Was a mainstream hit kind of

 

[smokeurobinson]

Was a mainstream hit kind of

Notice, you said 'kinda' cuz its a reach.

Like I said, that song was a failed attempt at mainstream,Thats not even a signature Roots song.

 

[MufasaChoppa]

 

[Jean Jacket]

Break u off... Ft. Musiq

 

[Theodoresolderbreh]

Other posters already got it. On top of being on Jimmy Fallon they had You got me, break you off and the next movement and being on the chappelle show helped too

 

[smokeurobinson]

Break u off... Ft. Musiq

Key word: mainstream hit


Ya'll posting songs that were big in R&B not mainstream.

 

[Eddie Jordan]

You're not wrong

 

[Conscious Pilot]

Didn't they win a Grammy for "You Got Me" ?

 

[Don Jesus]

Break You Off was played on the radio 800 times a day in 2002

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

They charge cheap..

 

[IllmaticDelta]

they have that "rock" band appeal

 

[Piff Perkins]

They've been doing festivals so long that some white people knew their hits before they did Fallon. The Seed comes to mind. But overall yea they weren't some mainstream staple. And I'm really impressed they never tried to sell out and capitalize off the Fallon thing by releasing a pop rap mainstream album. How I Got Over is the most accessible thing they've done post Fallon and it's more aimed at hipsters than the mainstream (Joanna Newsom feature and a folk band feature).

 

[smokeurobinson]

Break You Off was played on the radio 800 times a day in 2002

Which radio station tho?

Hip-hop ,R&B or top 40?

Top 40 is mainstream , heavy rotation on hip-hop and R&B stations is a different cat3gory.