The Roots really hate #bitchassness, and as a result, will not perform in the upcoming “Music of David Bowie†shows. Questlove made the announcement via Instagram on Wednesday night, pointing to what sounds like a sharing disagreement. “I’ve never been so insecure or petty as to deny a fellow musician use of ANY of my equipment,†the group’s drummer wrote (alongside a screengrab from an old Diddy PSA that called bitchassness a contagious disease). “We have patience. But we do NOT have patience for the #Bitchassness. Enjoy your precious equipment.†The Roots had originally signed on to honor the late Bowie with Bilal and Kimbra at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, and at Radio City Music Hall on Friday.
Read Quest’s full caption below:
Mood. I’ve never been so insecure or petty as to deny a fellow musician use of ANY of my equipment (or my band’s equipment—-or resources or contacts or knowledge or ANYTHING) it angers me when that same courtesy is not reciprocated. (Believe you me I was about to get #TomPetty or #PettyWap or #PetRockAndCLSmooth or #BlackPetty or however you wanna roll wit it)—keeping a level head and not being self destructive is a weak point I’m working on. But I’m also keeping it true: The Roots/Bilal/Kimbra (w/ Wendy Melvoin, DD Jackson & Ray Angry) pulled out of these Bowie gigs. We have patience. But we do NOT have patience for the #Bitchassness. Enjoy your precious equipment.
Still scheduled to perform are more than a dozen artists, including the likes of Debbie Harry, Michael Stipe, Cyndi Lauper, Holy Holy, and the Flaming Lips. Other information about the Roots’ dispute was not immediately available, but fingers crossed the bitchassness is either contained or remedied ASAP.
Update: Concert organizer Michael Dorf has released a statement about the drama, hoping to get Quest and the Roots back. From EW:
There was a miscommunication about the use of the Holy Holy’s drum kit last night on the tight City Winery stage for the rehearsal show. Very unfortunate. I would hope that after a nights sleep and knowing we have a much larger stage with multiple drum kits and other equipment that The Roots will still join us this evening. They have been a regular part of our tribute series and we deeply love and respect them. I remain hopeful they will still join the important celebration of David Bowie’s music tonight and tomorrow and the two sold out shows can experience their powerful performance as one of the 20 amazing songs planned.
The Carnegie Bowie concert begins tonight at 8 p.m. Questlove has yet to follow-up on his original Instagram, but has announced an 11 p.m. Brooklyn Bowl appearance, which will showcase the Native Tongues’ music.