The Roots

1. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, second day of school. A student named Ahmir Thompson walks into the principals office seeking a lunch pass. At the same time, a freshman named Tariq Trotter stumbles in, gripped by school guards who caught him engaging in extracurricular activities with a ballerina in the ladies bathroom.

Luckily, Thompson has designs larger than lunch, and Trotters game is wider than women. Thompson is a jazz drummer and Trotter is an MC, and decides to create music together. They cant afford turntables, microphones, or DJ equipment. But then again, they are secretly glad about their dollar deficiency--their collaborations wouldnt have that something-from-nothing spirit that built hip-hop and rock. So, Trotter rhymes over Thompsons rented drum kit. Eventually, they call themselves the Square Roots, and Thompson adopts the name ?uestlove and Trotter takes on Black Thought.