Rooty

2001 studio album by Basement Jaxx

Rooty

Studio album by

Basement Jaxx

Released| 25 June 2001 (2001-06-25)
Genre|

* Dance
* electronica
* house[1]

Length| 42:43
Label|

* XL
* Astralwerks (US)

Producer|

* Felix Buxton
* Simon Ratcliffe

Basement Jaxx chronology
| Remedy
(1999)  | Rooty
(2001)  | Kish Kash
(2003)

|
|

Singles from  Rooty

1. "Romeo"
Released: 4 June 2001
2. "Jus 1 Kiss"
Released: 17 September 2001
3. "Where's Your Head At"
Released: 19 November 2001
4. "Get Me Off"
Released: 17 June 2002
5. "Do Your Thing"
Released: 24 February 2003

Rooty is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 25 June 2001.

The music labels behind this release were XL and Astralwerks in the UK and US.

Like its predecessor Remedy, Rooty was well-received critically and commercially. Five singles were released from the album: "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At", "Get Me Off" and the Australia-only single "Do Your Thing".

## Background

[edit]

### Concept and artwork

[edit]

The name of the album is taken from Basement Jaxx's regular club event called "Rooty", held at a small bar in Brixton. The cover art featured Snowflake, the world's only known albino gorilla.[2]

Felix Burton explained the album's concept as "not geared to one specific vibe. Musically, we made it so that it wasn't just for cokeheads who wanted pounding beats all night," a philosophy that gave the duo "musical freedom".

As the title for the album, it was explained by the duo as "raw" and "soulful", as well as "about being happy about things that don't fit in" and "things that are a bit different. That's why the album's got an albino gorilla on the cover."[3]

### Collaboration

[edit]

During a July 2000 appearance on TRL, Janet Jackson expressed admiration for Basement Jaxx's debut album Remedy, and contacted the duo to collaborate.[4] Basement Jaxx approached Jackson to collaborate on "Get Me Off" for the album, though the singer ultimately declined.[5][6] Buxton recalled the collaboration attempt as follows: "She told us she loved our stuff, but she thought we were Zero 7. We wished her every success in hooking up with a British dance duo eventually and said, 'Cheerio, Celine.'"[7]

## Release and re-issue

[edit]

The album's first single, ""Romeo"", was released on 4 June 2001, three weeks before Rooty was released on 25 June.[8] Further singles released from the album were "Jus 1 Kiss" on 17 September,[9] "Where's Your Head At" on 19 November,[10] "Get Me Off" on 17 June 2002,[11] and "Do Your Thing" in Australia only on 24 February 2003.[12] The album was reissued in late 2022, 20 years after it was first released.[13]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 82/100[14]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [15]
Blender| [16]
Entertainment Weekly| A−[17]
The Guardian| [18]
NME| 8/10[19]
Pitchfork| 3.8/10[20]
Q| [21]
Rolling Stone| [22]
Spin| 8/10[23]
The Village Voice| A−[24]

> Rooty pulls together individual strands of London music that typically wouldn’t mix, particularly in the pre-broadband internet era when musical boundaries were more zealously guarded. No one would bat an eyelid at a punk house jam or R&B garage shuffler in 2021; back then, these kind of mixtures were more unusual, which makes Rooty a very prophetic album — a 5G release in the era of dial-up.[25]

Rooty has been well received by critics. John Bush of AllMusic gave it 5 out of 5 stars, calling it "so raw you can't believe they spent over an hour per track, so perfect you're glad they stopped noodling about long before most producers would, and so poppy they should get picked up by commercial radio in America as well as the rest of the world".[15] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave it an A− grade and called the album "where heart and feet meet and lovingly coexist".[17] Robert Christgau of Village Voice gave it the same grade, writing "no catchier collection of jingles has come to my attention since Steve Miller made his mint off jet airliners".[24] Billboard said the album "revels in exploiting rhythms that shouldn't work—but definitely do".[26] PopMatters's Andy Hermann was mixed, calling the album "either a brilliantly innovative record, or an unlistenable mess, depending on your point of view".[27]

Pitchfork's initial opinion on the album, however, was generally negative. While calling band members Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe "two of the weirdest, most innovative and talented house producers on the scene," reviewer Malcolm Seymour III wrote that "[Basement Jaxx] have taken kitsch too far," noting that the music is "often so tacky that it's impossible to stomach."[20] However, Pitchfork would later name Rooty the 33rd best album of the 2000s.[28]

Q listed Rooty as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[29] Kludge ranked it at number three on their list of top 10 albums of 2001.[30]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, except where noted. Songwriting credits adapted from BMI.[31]

Rooty track listingNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Romeo"|  | 3:36
2.| "Breakaway"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Bernard "Beloyd" Taylor

| 3:22
3.| "S.F.M."|  | 2:39
4.| "Kissalude"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Alma Duah

| 0:20
5.| "Jus 1 Kiss"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Bernard Edwards
* Nile Rodgers

| 4:24
6.| "Broken Dreams"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Digno García
* Glen Powell

| 3:07
7.| "I Want U"|  | 3:26
8.| "Get Me Off"|  | 4:49
9.| "Where's Your Head At"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Gary Numan

| 4:43
10.| "Freakalude"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Derrick Carter

| 0:29
11.| "Crazy Girl"|  | 3:20
12.| "Do Your Thing"|

* Buxton
* Ratcliffe
* Blue Mitchell

| 4:41
13.| "All I Know"|  | 3:47
Total length:| 42:43

Japanese edition bonus discNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Romeo" (Shinichi Osawa Tokyo Garage Mix)| 5:03
2.| "Romeo" (Shinichi Osawa Tokyo Garage Mix Radio Edit)| 3:50
Total length:| 8:53

Sample credits[32]

* "Breakaway" contains samples of "Lady Sun" and "You Are a Winner", both written by Bernard "Beloyd" Taylor and performed by Earth, Wind & Fire.
* "Jus 1 Kiss" contains samples of "You Can't Do It Alone", written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers and performed by Chic.
* "Broken Dreams" contains samples of "Costa Brava", written by Digno García and Glen Powell and performed by Felix de Ypacarai y sus Paraguayos.
* "Where's Your Head At" contains samples of "M.E." and "This Wreckage", both written and performed by Gary Numan.
* "Do Your Thing" contains samples of "Fungi Mama", written by Blue Mitchell and performed by Kenny Barron.

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits for Rooty adapted from album liner notes.[32]

Basement Jaxx

* Felix Buxton – mixing, production, vocals on "Breakaway", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Crazy Girl" and "All I Know"
* Simon Ratcliffe – mixing, production

Additional musicians

* Derrick Carter – vocals on "Get Me Off"
* Cassie – vocals on "Breakaway" and "S.F.M."
* Cherokee – vocals on "Get Me Off"
* Quentin Collins – trumpet on "Broken Dreams"
* Corryne – backing vocals on "Romeo"
* Crystal – vocals on "Get Me Off"
* Damien – vocals on "Where's Your Head At"
* Jill Draper – vocals on "Breakaway"
* Alma Duah – vocals on "Kissalude"
* Kele Le Roc – vocals on "Romeo"
* Lion – vocals on "S.F.M."
* Mandy – vocals on "I Want U" and "Get Me Off"
* Elliot May – vocals on "Do Your Thing"
* Michael Moog – backing vocals on "Where's Your Head At"
* Erick Morillo – backing vocals on "Where's Your Head At"
* Junior Sanchez – backing vocals on "Where's Your Head At"
* Sha – vocals on "Broken Dreams"

Production

* Mike Marsh – mastering

Design

* Anna Boye – photography
* René Habermacher – airbrushing
* Kidney – illustration, typography
* Mat Maitland – art direction, design
* Gerard Saint – art direction, design

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

Weekly chart performance for Rooty | Chart (2001)  | Peak
position

|

Australian Albums (ARIA)[33] | 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] | 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] | 41
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[36] | 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[37] | 59
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[38] | 38
French Albums (SNEP)[39] | 92
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] | 100
Irish Albums (IRMA)[41] | 15
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[42] | 15
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[43] | 2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] | 48
UK Albums (OCC)[45] | 5
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[46] | 5

### Year-end charts

[edit]

Year-end chart performance for Rooty | Chart (2001)  | Position

|

UK Albums (OCC)[47] | 103

## Certifications and sales

[edit]

Certifications and sales for Rooty Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

Australia (ARIA)[48] | Gold  | 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[50] | Gold  | 286,000[49]
United States  | —  | 162,000[51]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hermann, Andy. "Basement Jaxx: Rooty | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
2. ^ "This is the original shot of a White gorilla called Copito (Snowflake) which then went on to form the main inspiration for the Rooty album artwork". Basement Jaxx's Official Facebook page. Basement Jaxx. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
3. ^ McLean, Craig (25 June 2001). "All right Jaxx". Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
4. ^ "Janet Jackson on MTV TRL Pt1 - YouTube". July 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2014 – via YouTube.[dead YouTube link][dead YouTube link]
5. ^ "All right Jaxx - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. 25 June 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
6. ^ "New Jaxx Swing: Basement Jaxx". Inthemix.com.au. July 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
7. ^ "The pop idol's pop idols". The Scotsman. 16 November 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
8. ^ Smith, Gary (19 May 2001). "Dance Grooves". Music & Media. Vol. 18, no. 21\. p. 6\. "Romeo is released on June 4 with the album Rooty to be released June 25."
9. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 17th September 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 17 September 2001. p. 24\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
10. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 19 Nov 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 19 November 2001. p. 24\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
11. ^ "New Releases – For Week Starting 17 June 2002: Singles". Music Week. 15 June 2002. p. 31.
12. ^ "Basement Jaxx – Do Your Thing". Remote Control Records. Archived from the original on 23 June 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
13. ^ Pearis, Bill (4 May 2022). "Basement Jaxx reissuing 'Remedy' and 'Rooty' on colored vinyl".
14. ^ "Reviews for Rooty by Basement Jaxx". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
15. ^ a b Bush, John. "Rooty – Basement Jaxx". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
16. ^ Matos, Michaelangelo (June–July 2001). "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". Blender. No. 1\. p. 104\. Archived from the original on 15 August 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
17. ^ a b Browne, David (29 June 2001). "Rooty". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
18. ^ Costa, Maddy (22 June 2001). "The real daft punks". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
19. ^ Mulvey, John (23 June 2001). "Basement Jaxx : Rooty". NME.
20. ^ a b Seymour, Malcolm III (18 September 2001). "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
21. ^ "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". Q. No. 179\. August 2001. p. 122.
22. ^ Blashill, Pat (11 June 2001). "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". Rolling Stone. No. 872\. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
23. ^ Reynolds, Simon (August 2001). "Get Ur Freak On". Spin. Vol. 17, no. 8\. pp. 127–28. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
24. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (29 January 2002). "Consumer Guide: Throw Your Hands in the Air". The Village Voice. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
25. ^ Cardew, Ben (20 July 2021). "How Basement Jaxx's 'Rooty' conquered pop in the name of UK house music". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
26. ^ "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". Billboard. 7 July 2001. Archived from the original on 3 July 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
27. ^ Hermann, Andy. "Basement Jaxx: Rooty". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
28. ^ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50–21". Pitchfork. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
29. ^ "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q: 60–65\. December 2001.
30. ^ Perez, Arturo. "Top 10 Albums of 2001". Kludge. Archived from the original on 22 July 2004. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
31. ^ "BMI | Repertoire Search". repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
32. ^ a b Rooty (liner notes). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2001. XLCD143.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
33. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – Rooty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
35. ^ "Ultratop.be – Basement Jaxx – Rooty" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
36. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
37. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Basement Jaxx – Rooty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
38. ^ "Basement Jaxx: Rooty" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
39. ^ "Lescharts.com – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
40. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Basement Jaxx – Rooty" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
41. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 26, 2001". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
42. ^ "Charts.nz – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
43. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
44. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
45. ^ "Basement Jaxx | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
46. ^ "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
47. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart 2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
48. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
49. ^ "Albums turning 20 years old in 2021". Official Charts Company. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
50. ^ "British album certifications – Basement Jaxx – Rooty". British Phonographic Industry.
51. ^ "Basement Jaxx Slips 'Kash' In Pocket". Billboard. 12 August 2003. Retrieved 22 September 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Rooty at Discogs (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Basement Jaxx

* Simon Ratcliffe
* Felix Buxton

Studio albums|

* Remedy
* Rooty
* Kish Kash
* Crazy Itch Radio
* Scars
* Zephyr
* Junto

Compilations|

* Atlantic Jaxx Recordings: A Compilation
* The Singles

Other albums|

* Attack the Block
* Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest

Singles|

* "Fly Life"
* "Red Alert"
* "Rendez-Vu"
* "Jump n' Shout"
* "Bingo Bango"
* "Romeo"
* "Jus 1 Kiss"
* "Where's Your Head At"
* "Get Me Off"
* "Lucky Star"
* "Good Luck"
* "Plug It In"
* "Oh My Gosh"
* "U Don't Know Me"
* "Do Your Thing"
* "Hush Boy"
* "Take Me Back to Your House"
* "Hey U"
* "Raindrops"
* "Feelings Gone"
* "Back 2 the Wild"
* "Never Say Never"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Atlantic Jaxx
* Corrina Joseph
* Lisa Kekaula
* Vula Malinga
* The Hooping Life
* Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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