“Right On” by The Roots featuring Joanna Newsom

"Right On" comes from How I Got Over, the Roots' ninth album, issued by Def Jam in June 2010, and it carries a surprise name in the credits: Joanna Newsom, the featured guest, who shares the writing with Black Thought, Questlove, STS and Delon Lawrence. Black Thought and guest STS handle the vocals, Questlove produced it with Alectrick.Kom, and Jason Goldstein mixed.

It sits on a record the band kept subtle and somber, chewing on self-determination, existential doubt and African-American middle-class angst while borrowing from indie rock, soul, funk and gospel. How I Got Over debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and landed on plenty of year-end best-of lists, and Robert Christgau later rated it the Roots' weightiest album and named it the finest album of the 2010s.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.