The Roots, the ‘greatest hip hop band in the world’, are beginning work on their tenth artist album.

It’s been near-non-stop touring for the Philly collective since the release of 2006’s Game Theory, but the studio has beckoned once again. The Roots have enlisted a few friends to contribute to the forthcoming album Rising Down, due mid-year. Two of hip hop’s foremost lyricists Mos Def and Common are dropping in a for a rhyme, while Q-Tip and Lupe Fiasco are also rumoured.

A little less expected is the involvement of Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump. The Chicago pop-punk outfit recently collaborated with Timbaland on the track One and Only, which did good business in the US. Perhaps the Roots are shooting for radio recognition with Rising Down?