In an emotional and candid interview with battle-tested hitmaker Scott Storch, he opened up. He shared a side of himself that we rarely see, with tearful stories of betrayal and years of jealousy against the iconic hip-hop band that helped launch his career.
Chatting with entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David on the PBD Podcast, Storch was quite candid when discussing why he left the iconic outfit in the mid-1990s. “I made my way up in The Roots and did a lot of stuff for The Roots,” he said. “I was the guy who, again, came up with a lot of the nucleus of what that shit was, and I left the group and was told that I was the Pete Best of The Roots.
And for the benefit of any passerby who doesn’t recognize the name, Pete Best used to play drums for The Beatles before he got unceremoniously shitcanned just before the band BLEW THE FUCK UP. And I’m not going to go out with a band full of guys who don’t appreciate me,” he continued, complaining that he had gone unrewarded for his work. “No, I’m the f###### guy who’s doing all this s###.
Storch, now best known for having produced genre-blending hits for artists like Dr. Dre, Beyoncé, and Fat Joe, was once the keyboardist for The Roots’ earliest sounds. But despite his creative contribution, he said he felt sidelined even as “a parody of a racial stereotype.” “They call me the white devil,” he said. “I’m like this harmonious, loving, nonracist person, and this just hurt my feelings.
But the injuries didn’t begin and end with his decision to leave the band. Storch said some of the guys teased him after he began working with Dr. Dre. “They were like, ‘Ah, you workin’ with Dre 10 years too late bro. Good luck,’” he recalled. That “luck” translated into a streak of platinum hits and a legacy as one of hip-hop’s most sought-after producers. In retrospect, he shrugged off the commentary, labeling his ex-bandmates as “haters.”
Although Bet-David did get in a dig: “What happened to those guys?” Storch took a more nuanced view. “I’m not trying just to do them,” he said, noting The Roots’ triumphant segue into late-night TV within the format of the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He even gave them props for continuing to be around for such a long time in such a durable form of culture.
But the backlash to the interview was swift and split. “Disrespectful” was how one online commenter described the airing of grievances, especially in front of an audience so distant from hip-hop’s roots. Another responded, “The Roots are STILL the best Hip Hop Band ever, with or without you. They’re good.”
Although Storch steered clear of any new personal controversies here, he went viral online for his ex and for supporting Donald Trump; his thoughts on The Roots kicked up enough dust on their own.
And The Roots they’re still going strong, playing shows and their annual Roots Picnic, along with rumors swirling that they might have a long-awaited album out later this year. The beat goes on, but the past still reverberates.
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