The Roots: Birthday Girl Out, Rising Up In?

The Roots feat Wale and Chrisette Michele - Rising Up
[audio:http://thecouchsessions.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/roots-rising-up.mp3]

Did The Roots bow down to public pressure? I know that thy listen to Blogs, but I didn't expect them to drop Birthday Girl from their album, Rising Down. Yes, yours truly personally railed against the track, not because of the song itself, but because it seemed completely out of place with all the other songs on the album. I mean, completely out of place. Were they going for that emo demographic? If the Roots were going to "sell out" so to speak, I would hope they would do it in a more cleaver way, like the time they dropped Jill Scott for Erykah Badu on the "You Got Me" single back in 1999.

Anyway, that's over and done with. The single is dropped from the US release, but will remain on the international release, and will be featured as a bonus track here. They're even recording a video for it with porn star Sasha Grey (who is this chick? I only heard of her last week). The rumored replacement single, "Rising Up" has hit the Blogs and its a banger. The track features none other than DC's Wale, as well as a straight up go-go beat. Chrisette Michele sings the hook.

This song is fire. Is it "fire" enough to be a radio single? Definitely not. But at least The Roots will continue to stay true to their fanbase. (via The Rap Up)