The Rhymes of Our Lives

In celebration of what I feel is my first truly palpable week as a member of the Philadelphia community, I humbly offer The Roots' 1996 single "What They Do".

It took me a little while to find a version of this with the subtitles. The video doesn't make any sense without them.

Ever since I've moved to Philly, I been slowly introducing myself to the theatre community here. And although my family has been extremely supportive and invited me into the fold, the larger Philadelphia arts scene has been a bit tougher to crack. However, this week has revealed to me a collection of friends with open hands and warm hearts that have recognized my willingness to join them. It's a wonderful feeling.

So I'm feeling really Philly right now. I hope you enjoy.

peace.

Mother Load

Whoever thought it was a good idea for me not to know about the Red Bull Music Academy and its archive of artists' lectures had their head on straight, because now that I've discovered it, my productivity is headed in the crapper.

Here's a Questlove lecture from around five years ago.

This lecture/interview seems to have been recorded around the time The Roots were finishing up their first Def Jam project Game Theory. Quest gives us a very in-depth narrative describing the emergence of the Soulquarians, the inspiration of De La Soul on his decision to pursue making hip hop as a career, J Dilla's works and influence on his thoughts about drumming, and a number of other events and moments that have defined or shaped his music. Quest is the first to admit he is the unofficial the mouthpiece of The Legendary Roots Crew, and with this clip it seems he also serves to translate the energies of a large conglomerate of hip hop and soul artists, including folks like Jay-Z, D'angelo, Cody Chesnutt, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, and James Poyser.

As for the Red Bull lecture archives (here's the link), the line-up is nothing short of stellar. I could sit here and drop names all night (over 270 clips) but I'll leave it to you to explore them further. I'm off to the Madlib video.

This paper is never going to get done...

peace.

Classic Moments

This simple video is a record of what can only be described as a classic hip hop moment.

The Roots w/ "Weird" Al Yankovic cover "Accordion" by Madvillain

Last week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon "Weird" Al Yankovic sat in as a guest of The Roots, Jimmy's house band. However, what never airs are the many jam sessions The Roots enjoy with their various guess artists. Fortunately for us, Questlove (The Roots drummer and unofficial mouthpiece) is an extremely generous cat who doesn't mind giving us the behind-the-cameras moments that are so extraordinary.

The lovely thing about this track is that it raises so many more questions for me.

Is "Weird" Al a fan of MF Doom and Madlib?

Did Quest give him the chords to play or did he just start into it?

Was Black Thought there, writing perhaps?

And if he was, why wasn't he rhyming!?

Does this mean we're gonna get a "Weird" Al/Roots/Madvillain performance on the show?

Is Al going to be on the next Roots album?

Are The Roots going to be on the next "Weird" Al album?

Is Al going to do a MF Doom parody?

To be honest, the purpose of these jam sessions is for the musicians to have fun messing around with harmonies and melodies for the sake of practice and fellowship. So many of my questions probably won't be answered; or at least answered the way I want. Nevertheless, this track is simply marvelous and I'm thrilled they put it out here for us.

And Quest's responses are priceless!

peace

Emcee of the Month: Eternia

Yes, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way right now. She's a white girl. And it doesn't matter.

My homie Marcel made a quick mention of Eternia on facebook about a week ago. The only bits of info I retained from what I read was "emcee" and "Canadian" and thought, "Oh! Maybe she could be my Emcee of the Month for May since I'll be in Canada the whole time." However, to be honest I thought I'd have to fall back on k-os or Kardinal Offishall; established cats with material.

WRONG.

Lemme tell you something. This girl embodies everything pure and primal about being a rapper. She actually reminds me of all the things that were wonderful about so-called "underground" hip hop of the late nineties; passion, hunger, playfulness, humility, and sophistication. Generally, the more visible artists of that period were quite lazy and took themselves way too seriously, which put a bad taste in the mouths of many hip hop fans. Fortunately for hip hop, the Bush Administration has allowed us to rediscover our focus; just ask Questlove.

Here's an Eternia freestyle from way back in 2005. And I'm telling you, since then she's only gotten better.



This is going to be a good month.



peace.

The Questlove Celebrity Stories

I discovered this site about a year ago as I was strolling around some message board or other. Anytime I'm in need of instant grounding and amusement, this is one of the places I visit.

http://hypnagogics.com/questo/

For quick reference, Questlove is the drummer and mouthpiece of the Philadelphia hip hop band The Roots. He's been affiliated with a boatload of top-tier hip hop artists (Jay-Z, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Slum Village, Dilated Peoples) over an stellar 20+ year career. For more info on the The Roots, there's no better place online than okayplayer. Go have a look.

Until tomorrow...

peace.