Emcee of the Month: Black Thought

If the parameters of illest emcee alive involved pure skill, engagement, diversity, and consistency, it would be very difficult to argue against this guy being at or near the top of the list.

Many of hip hop most well-known and well respected artists have consistently mentioned Black Thought when discussing their favorite emcees. He's worked and performed alongside a staggering list of high profile individuals (Big Pun, Common, Eminem, Big Daddy Kane just to name a few). Not to mention, he's been the lead vocalist for arguably one of the hardest working, most well traveled, and most prolific bands in the history of music, The Roots.

But all of that kind of info could be regurgitated until the cows come home. Instead, I would like to tell a quick story that I feel sums up my respect and admiration for Thought's work and commitment to this art.

My friend Mark and I were in our fifth semester of graduate school at Louisiana State University. I go by his crib one day and he excitedly mentions The Roots would be playing a few weeks later at the House of Blues in New Orleans. There was no way we were missing the show. So we bought our tickets...

We arrive in New Orleans incredibly early to a.) find a decent parking place b.) see some of the French Quarter and get a bite to eat and c.) make sure we were at the front of the line to get in the show. The plan was to be as close to the stage as possible so as not to miss a single second of the action. After parking, eating, and a bit of sightseeing, we made our way to the venue and sure enough we were in the first 20 people waiting to go inside. Our design was taking shape.

So there we are, one row of people from the edge of the stage within spitting distance of the performers. The first opening act was The Soul Rebels, and of course they lit the place up. Their set, however, was really no longer than 30 or 40 minutes, which didn't really do justice to their musical excellence. As I've mentioned before, they were robbed. Oh well...

Next up was this fly emcee chick named Jean Grae, who tends to figuratively devour microphones for fun. Needless to say, she was super-fresh and probably had every dude in the room falling in love with her, including me.

Then came The Roots, the main event. They started their set from the small balcony at the back of the venue. They had recruited a tuba player to join the band, (probably the same cat that's with them now on Jimmy Fallon's show) and as the sound of the tuba permeated the space they marched across the balcony, down the stairs, through the audience and onto the stage. People were going absolutely crazy. Once the band had taken their place, the music began, and Black Thought held hip hop court for what seemed a solid two hours of non-stop funkiness. Meanwhile, Mark and I are dancing and shouting Thoughts rhymes to each other like we had just won the SuperBowl. I honestly don't remember a point in which we stopped moving until The Roots left the stage, with a sonorous tuba leading the way.

But here's the good part.

When the show was over and everyone was leaving, Thought came back out on stage to shake hand with people. I said to Mark, "Hey man, let's go see if we can holla at Thought." So we go back down towards the stage and patiently wait to show Tariq some love. We get to the lip of the stage and as I extend my hand to Thought, he looks down at the two of us and a huge smile comes across his face. "I saw you man! I saw you!" he says to us, and gives us the super-extra-humble-excited handshake.

We were floored! He saw us!? Did the two tall skinny actor dudes with too much hair dancing like maniacs actually contribute to Thought's experience of emceeing in New Orleans!? That's the dopest thing ever!

It was at that moment when my admiration for Black Thought's skill and energy rose to gargantuan proportions. I would tend to think Mark's did as well. Tariq is truly about this hip hop thing. He recognizes he is of the community, not simply making music for it.

Oh, and TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY! (At least, that's what wikipedia says.) GO WISH HIM A HAPPY ONE OF FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!

Here's "Don't Feel Right" from Game Theory.

peace.

Emcee of the Month: Jean Grae

Here's Jean Grae's video for the track "Love Thirst" from her Jeanius album.

I knew I wanted to highlight one of Jean's music videos today, and in my search for an appropriate clip, I was disheartened to discover she hasn't actually done many.

It's an unfortunate reality of the music industry that artists who reside on independent labels don't have truckloads of financial backing to create projects like music videos. However, when these artists do rustle up enough resources to get a video together the result is usually quite inventive and provocative. Such is the case with "Love Thirst".

Jean's playfulness and variety in this video is quite enjoyable. I'm a fan of multiple personality-type stuff, and the play on religious contradiction at the end is a nice touch. I would have, however, liked to see her spending some time out of the cab in her various personas engaging with people on the street. I feel that would have made the video a more well rounded.

Nevertheless, it's pretty dope. I hope to see another on from her soon!

peace.

Emcee of the Month: Jean Grae?

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Tonight I got home and proceeded to compose tonight's blog post, and my computer won't connect to the Internet. Currently, I am using my iPod Touch to write this. So tomorrow morning I will make another attempt at composing the last Emcee of the Month post for March. If I'm not able to get it posted before the end if the month, then I'll be sure to link April's emcee to Jean Grae. I want to make sure she gets her due.



peace.

Emcee of the Month: Jean Grae

I've been listening to Jean Grae interviews on youtube for about an hour now and honestly, I could listen to her all night long. Really. Rarely have I seen an emcee who can converse with such a balance of wit, intelligence, humility, insight, and confidence. Most stick to their shtick and have limited ability to communicate the subtleties and nuances of their personalities. Perhaps it has something to do with a fear or apprehension of seeming vulnerable or weakened.

Not Jean.

She invites us into the frailties and idiosyncrasies of who she is just enough to keep us wanting more. We get a sense of how she observes her world and what drives her. It's actually incredibly enticing. Since the business of hip hop music is such a male driven industry, the usual pattern of women emcees is to mimic the way the dudes navigate the culture. But Jean embraces her femininity, which allows her to seem much more grounded in life and work.

There is a lack of recent interviews featuring Jean on youtube (I wonder why.) but I was able to find clips from what seemed to be many different moments throughout her career. I was fascinated to see how she's evolved in the way she talks about her art and life. Here I'll be posting the most recent video I found, but I encourage you to scroll back and check out some of her earlier words. She's a sophisticated person and her journey is wonderfully colorful.

peace.

Emcee of the Month: Jean Grae

I'm excited I have an opportunity this month to discuss and highlight an artist whose work I've checked out before now. This is a track of off Jean's 2008 album Jeanius. Titled "The Time is Now", the production is handled by 9th Wonder with Phonte of Little Brother making a fantastic guest appearance.

This is my favorite jawn (Philly word!) on the Jeanius album, primarily because it exhibits Jean's sense of humor and spontaneity. Her verse on this track harnesses an energy that feels much more like free association or stream of consciousness than the more meditative lyrics she offers in other moments on the LP. But the verse doesn't seem sloppy or misshapen in any way. As the listener I'm able to follow the progression of her thoughts easily and clearly, even though the imagery makes significant shifts at times. Jean is very good at finding a balance in her writing that suggests an illusion of performing the verse for the first time while guiding us on a journey with her through the exploration of the text. And judging from the ad-libs that open and close the song, it's evident she's having a ton-o-fun.

Also, she's kickin' with the home state boys, Phonte and 9th Wonder (NC!). I'm always down with that!

peace.

Emcee of the Month: Jean Grae

I first saw Jean Grae at the House of Blues in New Orleans in 2006. My homie Mark and I drove down from Baton Rouge for the show, which turned out to be one of the best ever; The Soul Rebels, Jean Grae, and The Roots. Yea, it was super-live.

We got there early and made our way to the front row, where we stayed for practically the entire night. The Rebels came on first and, of course, they were rockin'. However, they only got a 30 minute set. I felt they were robbed. They really didn't even get warmed up.

Jean came out next. Now, before we went down I had looked into some of Jean's stuff and thought it was pretty dope. She found good production and wrote with definition and specificity. Her work was solid, through and through. However, my skepticism kept my expectations of her live performance low. Big mistake.

Jean Grae is a master of ceremonies in the most fundamental sense, and she rhymes as if she's daring the next emcee to be better. Mark and I witnessed as she absolutely cemented herself on the edge of the stage and proceeded to stake her claim on the entire room. She got everyone moving, and most of us didn't even know who she was. Her rhymes are incredibly precise and ricochet through a crowd like a bull whip in the Grand Canyon. By the end of her set, we were all believers.

She's dumb nice wit' it.

Here's a quick freestyle she did at The Duck Down 15 year anniversary back in July.

peace.