Soul Sessions Tribute
Fringe Bar
140 N Christopher Columbus Blvd.
Philadelphia
Oct. 21, 2026
While The Roots have built one of hip-hop’s best catalogs of original music, their super power has always been their skill at interpretation. From their humble beginnings busking on South Street to their current status as the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, part of The Roots’ draw is in their ability to make other artist’s music their own. Today, no one would bat an eye at seeing live instrumentation being employed at a hip-hop show, but when they started out, the band was an anomaly. In order to win over rap audiences expecting to see the traditional MC + DJ configuration, The Roots created “Hip-Hop 101,” a variety show-style medley in which the band covered classic rap songs. In the early days “Hip-Hop 101” was not only the highlight of The Roots stage show, it was a musical trojan horse of sorts, making their unusual presentation more palatable to rap fans. In the 1996 audio documentary Hip-Hop 101: On The Road with The Roots, a fan perfectly articulates the effect that these covers had on winning over audiences.“You could see people’s faces changing the longer they played…especially when they started playing the old school jams and everything.” This observation was so poignant, the band included the snippet in the intro for their classic 1996 album Illadelph Halflife. Although The Roots used interpretation to get their proverbial foot in the door, their original songs have stood the test of time and are now the subject of covers and tributes.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Soul Sessions Tribute took over Fringe Bar to honor hip-hop’s greatest band. During a loose, informal sound check, the band quickly fell into “Act Two (The Love of My Life).” Taking over hosting duties for the evening, Jay The Gentleman greeted the crowd and introduced the band. With Luke Carlos O’ Reilly on keys, Mario “Rio” Crew on drums, Tone Whitfield on bass and Elijah Cole on guitar, the band possessed the chops and skill to breathe new energy into The Roots’ classic cuts. During a heavy, rocking version of “The Next Movement,” the musicians were joined by MCs Range da Messenga, Verse Mega and Illadel. Later, the artist Sanovia joined and the group ran through a set of beloved Roots tunes, even expanding on the songs by adding their own new verses. From “It Don’t Feel Right” to “Break You Off” to “Clones” and “The Fire,” the Soul Sessions crew tackled so many of The Roots best songs with skill and care. As the audience sang and clapped along, it was clear that this music from the best hip-hop band in the world has taken on a life of its own. While The Roots may have leaned on covers and interpretations of other folks’ songs in their early years, their own songs have proven to be so vital that they are now the subject of such loving tribute and homage.
