David Farnor | On 15, Apr 2017

Amazon and The Roots are teaming up for two new kids’ series.

The hip hop band (comprising Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Kamal Gray, F. Knuckles, Captain Kirk Douglas, Damon Bryson and James Poyser) has won no fewer than four Grammy awards over the years, with 12 nominations under the belt. They currently act as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Now, they’re aiming to bring that passion for music to much younger viewers.

Working under their Passyunk Productions banner, the series will be exec produced by Tarik Trotter and Thompson, their manager Shawn Gee for Philly Films, and Brian Sher for Category 5 Entertainment.

“As we venture into the world that is film and television production, we couldn’t think of a better partner than Amazon to help us develop these first two children’s projects,” Thompson told Variety, who broke the news.

The first programme will be animated, with a working title of South Street Sounds. It will follow three friends growing up in a musical neighbourhood, where the residents dance perfectly in time, the birds tweet to a beat and people sing the blues after having a bad day. Inspired by their surroundings, the three children form a band called South Street Together, with the show featuring music by The Roots. The show will be written by Betty Friedman, who has previously worked on Amazon original kids’ series Creative Galaxy and Wishenproof.

The second programme with be a live action show. Although no details have yet been confirmed about the project, music by The Roots will no doubt play a significant part.

“Our love for music started as young kids, and we hope to inspire a generation of future artists, musicians and music fans through the stories we tell and the music they hear on these shows,” added Thompson.

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