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The Roots Raise The Hip-Hop Bar With Dazzling Musicianship
The House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. was ground zero for the hip-hop movement Monday night. Opening the first show of a sold-out two night stand, Philadelphia based rappers The Roots devastated the crowd with over two hours of inspired grooves. Using only live voices and instruments, The Roots are one of the only (if not the only) hip-hop crews not to use any samples or turntables on stage.
Instead of playing catch-up and hiring studio musicians to round out a touring band, The Roots have always intended and interpreted their music through live experimentation. Each member is an intuitive performer, a master of their craft, with the intensity of jazz musicians from a bye-gone era.
Touring in support of their third major label release Things Fall Apart, which sold over 200,000 copies in its first week, The Roots are still moving uphill with no end in site. Past performances in the Los Angeles area only hinted at the magic that was witnessed Monday. From the moment The Roots took the stage, each member marching with cowbell in hand, the crowd never wavered.
While many popular songs were featured from the groups first two albums, 1994s Do You Want More?!!!??! and 1996s illadelph halflife, including a show-stopping version of Concerto Of The Desperado, the real energy came from the band's newest material. Even though Things Fall Apart has only been out for a few weeks, the songs are so powerful, they stole the show. A rare occurrence for any group's third album.
High energy jams like Step Into The Relm and Adrenaline! were met with crazed reactions from audience members. Roots frontman, Black Thought, surely one of the best MC's today, dazzled with his quick tongue and razor wit.
The entire crew sounded amazing, with every instrument and microphone mixed in perfect balance. The only problem was the deafening volume, which at times put more hands in ears than up in the air. Double Trouble was so infectious that it was hard to tell who was dancing more, the people on stage, or the folks on the floor.
Through out the night, each member of the band took a turn showcasing their talents with well deserved solos. Even though the numerous solos hurt the momentum of the overall show, there were some amazing skills on display.
Rahzel, nicknamed The Godfather of Noyze, brought the house down with his nonstop makin' music with your mouth portion on the show. With nothing more than a mic and his mouth, Rahzel created beats, samples, scratches, video games, porno flicks and kung-fu movies out of thin air, in surround sound quality. Until you see someone beatbox a vocal hook, beat and bass line...all at the same time, you won't believe it. Hell...even if you see it, you won't believe it.
Also impressive was human turntablist, Scratch, who like Rahzel, sounded the wheels of steel all night, using only his mouth. Drummer ?uestlove and bassist Hub wowed with virtuoso solos, showing creativity way beyond anything seen in the world of rock n roll.
Towards the end of the set, The Roots played Act Too (The Love Of My Life) a jazzy ode to hip-hop. Each verse of the song celebrates the importance of hip-hop music in their lives. It was practically spiritual, because at that moment, it truly did come together. It was the kind of night that rekindles everything that people love about music. Not just rap music, but every kind of music. Even though Lauryn Hill just won a Grammy for Album of the Year, it's never to early to make a suggestion for next years top prospect.
