Neo-soul group the Roots are back after a nearly two-year hiatus with their 10th studio album, Undun. In their latest album, the Philadelphia natives, who have become a mainstay of late-night television playing alongside Jimmy Fallon nightly, infuse their trademark R&B-soul sound into a masterfully created story of the semifictional Redford, whose struggles in life…

Michelle Alexander’s newest book, The New Jim Crow, takes an in-depth look at the continued presence of racism in a so-called postracial world. While discriminatory practices are shunned and society has turned its shoulder on racism, the world of prejudice still permeates the hallways of America’s prisons, according to Alexander. The old-time practices of housing…

Los Angeles County prosecutors plan to seek the maximum sentence for Dr. Conrad Murray for the death of Michael Jackson.  In a memo written earlier this week, prosecutors asked that Murray be given the maximum sentence of four years behind bars. In addition to the maximum prison sentence, prosecutors are seeking a more-than-$100 million compensation…

Police are looking for a Los Angeles woman after she reportedly used pepper spray to bypass eager Black Friday customers, according to the Los Angeles Times. The unidentified woman attacked as many as 20 customers at a San Fernando Valley, Calif., Wal-Mart in an attempt to skip the line ahead of fellow bargain seekers who…

Chicago rapper Common is back with his latest album, The Dreamer, the Believer. The album’s first single, “Ghetto Dreams,” featuring fellow rap artist Nas, has already hit airwaves. Production started on The Dreamer, the Believer in early 2009, and it was slated for a spring 2011 release before being pushed back twice to allow the rapper…

British songstress Adele is back after the noteworthy release of her second studio album 21. The singer’s latest release, Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall, features a DVD of the full 90-minute concert experience at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall, in addition behind-the-scenes footage of the much-talked-about Sept. 22 performance. The DVD-CD combo also…

On the heels of the release of her highly acclaimed album 4, Beyoncé is set to release her deluxe-edition album-DVD combo Beyoncé Live at Roseland: Elements of 4, which features the entirety of the R&B songstress’s four-night revue at New York City’s famed Roseland Ballroom. Billed as “4 Intimate Nights With Beyoncé,” the concert harks…

Corruption and suspense help describe the first novel by Orange County lawyer S. Alexander O’Keefe. Helius Legacy is a thrilling book surrounding a dangerous struggle over an oil-rich field on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. After coming across a long-lost deed for the lucrative piece of land, a reporter attempts to find descendants of the…

Join The Root in the fight against sickle-cell disease as harmonicist and 2009 The Root 100 honoree Frédéric Yonnet and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Wayna perform at the third annual “Mo’ That Jazz” Sickle Cell Benefit Concert this Saturday in Washington, D.C. Hosted by D.C.’s Florida Avenue Baptist Church and co-sponsored by The Root, proceeds from the…