Philadelphia's hip hop masterminds, The Roots, performed in Oakland, California last night and I must say that this was definitely THE BEST hip hop concert performance I have ever attended!
Let me start off first by saying that this was not solely a Roots concert. It was actually the "We The Planet," festival of activism, earth consciousness and music, sponsored by the Circle of Life foundation.
Let me also say that if you haven't yet heard of The Roots then now is definitely the time!
If you haven't noticed, we are in an era of wack mainstream rap with lyrics that make no sense at all. An era where you will most likely hear a song by Nelly or Little John 27 times an hour on mainstream radio before hearing one song off of The Roots' latest cd, The Tipping Point.
The band wraps Black Thoughts cleverly timed, socially conscious lyrics, around funky guitar riffs and piano/keyboard fill-ins backed by LIVE classic hip hop/funk/jazz drumming by ?uestlove.
The Roots were the second act to perform that night and I can honestly say that the half-empty Kaiser Convention Center suddenly began to fill up as the first hit of ?uestloves drum permeated the highly amped crowd.
Contrary to many hip hop live shows, it was refreshing to actually clearly hear what Black Thought was saying in each song as he seemed to have glided through each one with a comfortable ease.
The group performed songs from their last two releases (Phrenology and The Tipping Point) and had the whole crowd (from Woodstock-era hippies to back-pack wearing hip hoppers) moving.
The highlight of the show? When The Roots rocked their latest single, "Everybody Is A Star," my current favorite.
The crowd loved it!
Whoever was sitting down at the onset of that song suddenly got up singing along to the catchy chorus while dancing in the aisles or swaying in rhythm from left to right.
This was definitely a "hip hop show" in the classic sense! Great lyrics, great music. What more could you ask for?
Click here to listen to streaming samples from the latest gem, The Tipping Point !
PROPER hip hop indeed!
-Raina
And like e'rybody he wanna shine, young brothers on the grind
Holdin somethin in they spine, "Bowling for Columbine"
Stressin to me how it's all about a dollar sign
Dig the way you out of line, out of sight and out of mind
Up against the clock and damn near out of time
"The Tipping Point" has arrived, and that's the bottom line
To all my peoples that's stars, it's our time to shine
-Everybody Is A Star
