The Roots Rock It Out for Captain Morgan’s ‘Life, Love & Loot’ Campaign

Aye, Matey! Philadelphia hip-hop band The Roots has partnered with Captain Morgan to record an anthem for the rum company's 'To Life, Love & Loot' campaign. The song features rapper Black Thought in rock star mode over a guitar-driven production.

The Roots don't normally do much corporate partnerships, but the band's frontman Questlove felt that Captain Morgan was a good fit for them. "There's no offer that we don't heavily scrutinize [before accepting]," he tells HipHopDX. "We are artists; we are skeptical by nature. Captain Morgan is a very high-class product. Our main concern was presenting something that was just as high class, if you will, and to do it in such a short amount of time. We didn't have any reservations other than that."

Although the Roots are known for their fantastic hip-hop sound, for Captain Morgan's 'To Life, Love & Loot' campaign, they were allowed to go in a different musical direction outside of their norm. "We kind of figured that what we're normally known for wouldn't necessarily be a regular fit for a campaign," explains Quest. "They kinda gave us a free will [ability] to kinda come and approach this in a very different manner, as in some sort of musical approach that we've never done before. [Black Thought] doesn't normally sing on Roots albums all that much, so we knew it would be a surprise for people, when [they] hear it. The challenge is really to make it concise in under a minute, and have some sort of adrenaline energy to it. It was a challenge but we rose to it."

Fans can visit Captain Morgan's Facebook page and download the 'Live, Love and Loot' track and watch behind-the-scenes footage of the recording process.

Meanwhile, the Roots have finished recording their 13 album titled 'Undun' for Def Jam. The collection is expected to hit shelves on Dec. 6.

Watch the 'To Life, Love & Loot' Remix by The Roots' Video