tagged w/ questlove
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The following post is an open letter to members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
http://vimeo.com/16642964
It's time for The Roots crew to be on top. It's "Now or Never".
It's been nearly two decades since Philly's finest, Questlove (Ahmir Thompson), joined Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and a number of other musicians (past and present) to form The Roots. Historically speaking, they're one of the last black bands (an ensemble of musicians playing instruments) to be signed to a major label. Starting From The Ground Up all the way to Wake Up, they've evolved and undoubtably proven that they are America's band.
Clocking in at 42 minutes, their latest album, How I Got Over, should be considered the best album of 2010. It's a genuine voice of hope at a time of high unemployment and economic struggle. It's this generation's "What's Going On", or today's "Innervisons". The menu of tracks seamlessly morphs one genre of music into another. It's Jazz, Soul, Rock, Folk and Hip Hop living together in harmony. It's the roots of American music coming from The Roots.
In recent years it has become clear that the chart-topping solo acts are destined to garner the most nominations. This year probably won't be any different (Taylor Swift, Eminem, Lady GaGa) unless you take notice and do the right thing. The Grammy Awards of 2011 will take place on February 13th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. That will be the time and place to put The Roots latest and greatest album, How I Got Over where it belongs: at the top.The following post is an open letter to members of the National Academy of Recording... more
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Our music programming supervisor Manoj Gopinath represented for Team Current at the Common & Friends Benefit this past weekend in LA. Here's his recap and some (shaky) YouTube clips we found. —SNK
Hip hop’s finest all came out to flex their performance muscles at a great concert this past Saturday at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, CA. The concert, curated by rapper/actor (and friend of Current Music) Common, and supporting his Common Ground Foundation, brought out a diverse group of performers, including himself. The event was organized by Jodie Blum, the executive director of the Common Ground Foundation, and Common gave all the props to her for getting all the artists to come out and perform. I was lucky enough to have a chance to check out the show, which I would rate as one of the best I’ve seen in a while. That’s saying a lot, as I’ve been to a pretty fair amount in the past two years working at Current.
Hosted by KCRW’s Garth Trinidad, a good friend of Common, the show started off with a bang when he introduced hip hop underground royalty De La Soul, who performed a couple of their hits, including “Buddy," “Stakes is High," and “Oooh." One of the early surprises was when a masked MF Doom showed up to drop his verse on “Roc Co.Kane Flow." I’m not sure most of the skinny-jean wearing hipster crowd knew who he was, but the true hip hop heads in attendance were definitely bobbing their head ferociously.
The man of the night then appeared, as Common came out and rocked with De La Soul, performing a couple of their collabs. Common then took over the stage and went on to perform one his staples of all his live shows lately, “The People," shouting out President Obama and the new generation of our diverse population. He then segued into a version of “Come Close” set to the live band's rendition of D’angelo’s “Brown Sugar," a definite highlight for the ladies in attendance. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, ?uestlove and Black Thought came to the stage to rock the drums and mic, and launched into an impromptu freestyle session with Common, while DJ Dummy—Common’s DJ and the house DJ for the night—was searching for their collab record to throw on. It was a great moment where three amazing artists went off the top to give the crowd what they expected. Real hip hop!
Next up was an unusual guest in the mostly backpack/conscious line-up, none other then ATL’s own Ludacris. You wouldn’t be able to tell by the crowd though, as the energy was definitely lifted a notch when Trinidad brought him out. Luda took us back with his classic hits “Southern Hospitality” and “Move B#$&%." But the theme of the night was not forgotten, as he thanked Common, who he mentioned as one of his favorite rappers, and thanked hip hop, then fittingly launched into his current collaboration with Nas, “I do it for hip hop."
And wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Nasir Jones then came out to spit his verse. He then took over the stage, as the band’s keyboard player dropped the inspirational “In the Air Tonight” riff from his hit “One Mic." Judging from Nas’ performance, his energy level was definitely off the charts, even forgetting some of his lyrics, as the crowd cheered him on. As he performed “The World Is Mine” and “NY State of Mind," Common played hype man, even helping him out with some of the lyrics, fittingly changing NY to LA on the hook, which the crowd loved. Common even rapped one of Nas’ verses, paying homage to the Queens Bridge legend. The two hip hop icons then joined forces to introduce another surprise guest, one of their personal favorites, none other than the overweight luva himself, Heavy D. Most of the younger crowd probably did not know the history, as the energy digressed a bit, but I myself was taken back to my days in elementary / middle school, a lovely time in my life:), as he performed “The Overweight Lova’s in the House” and “Nuttin’ But Love." I have to admit, while watching the sound check earlier in the day, and seeing Heavy D run through his set, I was pretty excited, as I’d never seen him live before—so added bonus for me, not so much for the skinny jeans crowd.
Just when you thought the night might be winding down, Common hit the stage again, while DJ Dummy dropped the instrumental for his collaboration with Black Star, “Respiration." Could it be? Could both Mos Def and Talib Kweli be in the building. Judging from how the night had gone so far, it was pretty much a given. Right on cue, Mos’ melodic voice blared over the PA, launching into his verse... The crowd was at an all time high! When Talib appeared, you knew the night was a special one for hip hop. Mos and Talib each did their respective solo cuts too, “Umi Says” and “Get By," with the latter getting a crazy response from the crowd. Common even admitted to the crowd that Talib and Mos were last-minute additions, who called him the night before and said they wanted to rock at the show. I was thinking to myself, now that is what hip hop is all about!
This seemed like a perfect avenue to bring another guest in, huh? Common took to the mic to send his apologies from Mr. West, for not being able to make it, as he was trying to stay out of the spotlight, and also took a minute to defend his brother. For a split second, I actually believed him, but as the adrenaline level in the crowd seemed to increase, and Common chanted “the only way to get up from this was to 'Get em high,'" the instrumental for his collaboration with Kanye and Talib dropped. As Kanye appeared, rapping his verse, the crowd pretty much exploded, and the energy in the Palladium was at an all time high. Kanye might have been taken aback a bit, as he forgot some of his lyrics, but Common and Talib stepped in to back him up.
Kanye then went on to perform “Good Life," probably the all-time high of the show for the crowd, and “Flashing Lights," with Mos Def filling in for Dwele’s soulful hook. Common and Talib played his hype men, and did a fine job if I might add. You would think this would be the fitting end to an already amazing show, but just as “Flashing Lights” was coming to a close, a female voice was heard over the speakers—none other than Queen Latifah. Assisting Mos with the hook probably wasn’t a good idea, but in any event, the Queen herself closed out the show, as Common and Kanye backed her up. She ended her set with her classic cut “U.N.I.T.Y.," a fitting end to an amazing night. Unity was definitely the theme of the whole show, as an eclectic group of performers came out for a great cause. This was definitely 2.5 hours of my life that wasn’t wasted, and I’m sure everyone in attendance would agree with me. Props to Common, Jodie , the Common Ground Foundation, and everyone who supported the show.Our music programming supervisor Manoj Gopinath represented for Team Current at the... more
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shana
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added this
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2 years ago
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Damn, I wish I'd been at this show:
“I’ve been to a lot of charity events, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Old-school rapper Heavy D surveyed the sold-out Hollywood Palladium crowd gathered for the second annual “Common & Friends,” a star-studded affair that featured appearances from a seemingly endless cavalcade of A-list hip-hop stars to benefit Common's Common Ground charity.
The audience had already seen a series of highlights. De La Soul opened the show with a quick, high-energy set, punctuated by a surprise appearance from masked rapper MF Doom, who ferociously ripped through his verse from “Rock Co.Kane Flow.”
Black Thought and Amir “Questlove” Thompson represented for the Roots, and Ludacris ignited concertgoers with a crowd-pleasing set that culminated with “I Do It for Hip-Hop.” The latter allowed him to introduce Nas, who appears on the recorded version (video here).
After a simmering take on “One Mic,” Nas looked on in appreciation as the night’s host, Common, proceeded to spit most of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” verbatim.
The crowd was also treated to an impromptu Black Star reunion, with Mos Def and Talib Kweli hitting the stage together. The two galvanized the audience with solo hits “Umi Says” and “Get By,” respectively.
Read the full review by clicking through, and learn more about Common's foundation here: http://www.commongroundfoundation.org/Damn, I wish I'd been at this show:
“I’ve been to a lot of... more
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shana
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added this
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2 years ago
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Unbelievable, "things fall apart", "rising down", "game theory"......need i go on. They're getting more exposure by being on late night, So what! Mos def is an actor, is he a sell out, NO WAY!Unbelievable, "things fall apart", "rising down", "game... more
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Following yesterday’s acquittal of three New York City police detectives for the November 2006 shooting death of an unarmed citizen, Sean Bell [click to read], many in the Hip Hop community have expressed their outrage over a judge’s decision to let the officers go free for their roles in collectively firing 50 rounds at Bell and two of his friends following a bachelor party on the eve of his wedding day.
Read the rest here.....
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6817Following yesterday’s acquittal of three New York City police detectives for the... more
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