Rapper-singer Nicki Minaj and the hip-hop band the Roots played a special show at the Best Buy Theater in New York City this week. The purpose was to help launch the Casio Tryx, a new camera aimed at younger consumers. Minaj posed for pictures outside the venue with a busload of fans from a Minaj lookalike contest, and at a press conference later, she showed off a pink autographed version of the Tryx which she said would be auctioned off to support the American Red Cross’s relief efforts in earthquake and tsunami-ravaged parts of Japan.

Before the show, Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, the drummer and spokesperson for the Roots, told Speakeasy that his group was working on a new album. He said they were “three or four songs” into the new project.

Thompson said that the critical praise for the band’s last release, “‘How I Got Over,” may spur the Roots to continue in that vein. “I don’t know if we can make lightning strike twice,” he said.

He said the veteran band was interested in making music that reflected their age. “We’re people too, we’re hip hop fans as well,” the 40-year-old Thompson said. He added that hip-hop isn’t a genre that’s only for “a 12 year old or 27 year old.”

“As long as we stick to subjects that are relevant and universal we shouldn’t have any problems,” Thompson said.

By Christopher John Farley The Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com