Hip-hop trailblazers The Roots [ tickets ] are getting ready to drop their 10th album and will support the set with a North American tour.

The five-week outing, set to launch March 29 in Decatur, IL, will stick primarily to the eastern and southern US, with a March 30 stop in Toronto. The itinerary is heavy on university venues and includes several festival performances, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Grammy-winning band also lists a lone August gig in Jersey City, NJ. Details are listed below.

The Roots' new album on Def Jam Recordings, "Rising Down," is scheduled to hit the streets April 29.

"This is probably our most political album to date dealing with addiction, nihilism, hypocritical double standards in the prison system and overall life in Philadelphia," Roots co-founder/drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson said in a statement. "I'd say it's more mature and intense than all of our efforts but not a 'downer' as most people expect us to do."

The album's title comes from William T. Vollmann's treatise on violence--"Rising Up and Rising Down"--and the release date falls on the 16th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, which were sparked by the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King beating.

A few songs from the forthcoming record, including lead single "Birthday Girl" featuring Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump, are streaming at The Roots' MySpace page, which doubles as the band's official website. Other guests on the album include Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Saigon, Dice Raw and Chrisette Michele.

"Rising Down" follows The Roots' 2006 release, "Game Theory," which landed in the Top 10 on The Billboard 200.