Lauryn Hill, OutKast, the Roots link for resurrected Smokin’ Grooves tour
ByMay 29, 2002 10:00 PM
The Smokin’ Grooves tour, which served as hip-hop and R&B’s answer to Lollapalooza through the mid-’90s before going dormant, regroups this year with a bill that features Lauryn Hill, OutKast and the Roots.
The Smokin’ Grooves tour, which served as hip-hop and R&B’s answer to Lollapalooza through the mid-’90s before going dormant, regroups this year with a bill that features Lauryn Hill, OutKast and the Roots.
The three-week run kicks off on the West Coast in mid-July, and wraps up on the East Coast in early August.
Hill is hitting the road behind her May 7 release, “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0,” a double album featuring her two-hour performance on MTV2’s March 10 episode of “Unplugged.” A companion DVD/VHS release surfaces on June 11.
The acoustic album, which features new material, is the follow-up to Hill’s multi-platinum 1998 solo debut, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The album garnered the former Fugees member five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year.
OutKast continues to back its December 2001 hits package, “Big Boi and Dre Present ... OutKast,” a compilation of previously released songs that also features three new tracks.
“Stankonia," OutKast’s 1999 release, spawned the group’s breakthrough hit “Ms. Jackson.” In February, the song won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, while the album took the Grammy for Best Rap Album.
A new OutKast track titled “Land of a Million Drums"--featuring Killer Mike and Sleepy Brown--turns up on the June 4 “Scooby-Doo” motion-picture soundtrack.
The Roots release “Phrenology” this summer, the follow up to 1999’s “Things Fall Apart.” The latter album’s track “You Got Me,” which features R&B singer Erykah Badu, took the 1999 Grammy award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
“The Roots Come Alive,” the group’s first live collection, was also released in 1999.
The last Smokin’ Grooves package hit the road in 1998 with a lineup that included Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Busta Rhymes and Wyclef Jean (Hill’s former Fugees bandmate). The Fugees were on the bill of the first Smokin’ Grooves tour, which took place in 1996.