Emcee of the Month: Black Thought

There are thirty-year-old rappers who wish they could throw down like this.

"@ 15" from The Roots' Rising Down album


I'll be back with some thoughts about this tomorrow. Enjoy!



peace.

Thanks Steve

We will certainly be a bit worse off without you.

To be honest, I've always been a pc guy. I tend to enjoy their complexity and hands-on sensibility. To be even more honest, I've consistently been frustrated with the exclusivity of Apple products. They've become more of a trend than a tool these days, which would be okay if they weren't substantially overpriced. (Apple, you want to really impress me? Make an elegant iPhone for $50 retail.)

However, Steve Jobs' influence on the way we communicate to each other is immeasurable and simply can't be overstated. I remember buying my first iPod in 2006, a purchase that completely revolutionized the way I keep and listen to my music. The ability to have virtually my entire music catalog (along with pictures, videos, documents, and whatever else I can get on that thing) with me at all times is quite powerful. For all intents and purposes, I have a computer in my pocket.

Seriously. Think about that; a computer in my pocket.

In my lifetime, Apple took us from this:

to what basically amounts to this:

(For the uninitiated, that is a prop from Star Trek: The Next Generation called a tricorder.)

Steve brought the future to us, and for that I am truly thankful to have lived during his time.

peace.

Common's Sky Writing

Here's Common's new single "Blue Sky" from his forthcoming album of the same name. And yes, it's hot.

And if you're wondering, it's produced by No I.D.(!)

peace.

The Rhymes of Our Lives

Allow me to share with you the default song-in-my-head since 1999. It's the track that comes to mind after all others have faded away.

Black Star "Definition"

Where Brooklyn? (See that?)

peace.

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: Black Thought

Emcee of the Month for October 2011: Black Thought

Yup. It's getting real.

I'll be back tomorrow with some thoughts.

peace.

Disillusion

A few days ago my good friend Mark published a thought on his facebook wall expressing his disillusion with the progressive protests that have been ongoing on Wall St. It prompted quite a few spirited and thoughtful responses. I threw something in there as well. Many had challenged Mark, claiming that the protests serve to at least bring media attention the group's efforts. But after a few ideas back and forth, Mark posted his final reply to the discussion.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm outside flying a high fist when they roll by my building chanting. They have all my support when they're DOING something.

They're not interrupting my commute in the least bit and maybe that's the problem. Walking by and seeing something so lifeless is depressing. Nathan, you would be in the fierce minority down there, with your ability to articulate such a vision. There is a soul-sucking lack of passion and connection. I want to walk by and feel compelled--I want to feel the urge to stop and stay and not go to work that day.

That Chomsky quote (‎"The courageous and honorable protests underway in Wall Street should serve to bring this calamity to public attention, and to lead to dedicated efforts to overcome it and set the society on a more healthy course.") smacks of obligation and inspires nothing. Media attention is indeed the least we can hope to come of it and it's the most we will get when the focus is so much on the people claiming to shed light on the calamity and not on the calamity itself. The intention is misguided and therefore misdirecting the attention. “There are people who wouldn't normally spend time in the Financial District spending a lot of time in privately-owned Zuccotti park,” says the news. “Who cares?” says everybody. I appreciate the symbolism but to call it direct action is quite a stretch. Horizontal, process-based and leaderless is how virtually every project I’m involved in operates but it only works when it is actively in service of something. I don’t see that service.

Call me a corporatist (again) but where's the takeaway? There is someone in Omaha who sees it on the news and would love nothing more than to be there, but has to stay home and work the job they probably feel lucky to have. What can they do? I’ve walked by it or through it a dozen times and never once been engaged or really even looked at in the eye. Just being there isn’t enough. Really. I want a little more “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore” and a little less hacky-sack.

I’m certainly knocking it a little too hard. I’m on the same team and I care. But it’s not a heroic feat and I think maybe it’s doing more harm than good. Also, routinely invoking the Arab spring is a corporate-minded kind of co-opting of the cheapest and most self-aggrandizing kind. That was probably the thing that pissed me off in the first place.

From what I can tell, Mark's disappointment with these protests is that they do nothing to give Wall St. anything to fear. The people in those buildings absolutely know that a bunch of Kumbaya-singing progressive pacifists have no means by which to inspire real change in either the financial or legislative arenas. No one's afraid of hippies anymore, and I would argue no one really was. Real social change requires something a lot more aggressive and dangerous; it always has. Progressive thought without active, vocal, and immediate engagement breeds a message that is misshapen and non-committal.

And that ain't doin' no good.

I may be wrong and if I am, Mark will certainly correct me. If so, this will be updated accordingly.

peace.