The Roots & Company @ Radio City Music Hall: Jay-Z Appeared, What More Can I Say?

I have to get these words out, before I get home to Jersey (my office is nearby). In the past three hours this is what I saw, heard and happened to me during The Roots show:

• Jay-Z came out during the encore and owned Radio City Music Hall. Can I get an encore? Ummm, yes. How's Jay-Z for you? That will do just fine.
• During Jay-Z's brief four-minute appearance, Dave Chappelle touched my shoulder and said, "Excuse me." Behind him were Erykah Badu, Mos Def and lot of security guards. I do not have photographic evidence of this, because I was too busy being stunned.
• Dave Chappelle performing a 10-minute stand-up routine were he touched on his disappearance, Natalie Holloway, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes and the infamous pimp Iceberg Slim.
• The Roots, along with R&B singer Bilal, covering Radiohead's "Everything In It's Right Place." I'm speechless. The best hip-hop band of the past decade covering the best rock band of the past decade.
• Mos Def running up and down the aisle of Radio City hi-fiving anyone and everyone.
• The whole Roots crew arriving on stage from the back of the hall in a Mummer's Parade style, single file, with ?uestlove on bass drum and Black Thought on a megaphone.

Okay, I'm either going to get a call saying I can get into the after-party at Jay-Z 's 40-40 Club or face reality and go home to upload the pics. The later is probably happening. See you in a few.....

And we're baaaaaaack.

No after for party for music snobbery, which is the best for all parties involved. You have been saved from pictures of me and rap stars and awkward celebrity encounter stories. You can thank me later.

Onto the show ... Tonight was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that can only happen in New York. It's also one of the those "You had to be there" experiences. So much went on, it was just one guest after another for three hours.

Having followed The Roots since they started out in the mid-90s in Philadelphia, I know that no matter what they do, they always have a theory about their recorded music or live performances that it is entertainment as well as a history lesson and tribute to the foundation of hip hop. Tonight's showcase demonstrated that.

Tonight's show wasn't a straight forward setlist where there is a set of songs they have to play or tracks they need to promote from a new album. It was more a freestyle weaving in and out of The Roots portfolio and their guest's songs. It's more of celebration of music, which makes it incredible because we tend to have expectations going in. When you know it's the "let's just put on a show" mentality, everything is special. ?uestlove said in Time Out: New York this week that these two shows at Radio City were meant to be a mix tape or artists coming together backed by The Roots crew.

Again, like Gorillaz, I find myself with a kick-ass seat, 3rd row in the orchestra ... all the way to the left of the stage ... right next to the 10-foot tall sub-woofers. I had the aisle next to the stage so I get funky and not be in any one's view. It didn't matter because everyone was on their feet a majority of the time having a blast. So as you can see by these pictures, I had a great view, but even with my decent hearing protection, I'm going to be paying for it with a constant ringing in my ears. My hair was being tossed about to the beat of the bass. I can feel my insides rattle around my body. When Chappelle came out, I was thankful because the music stopped.

A lot went on tonight, a lot of rappers came on off and I don't know all their names, so this is not a complete recap. I did recognize DJ Jazzy Jeff. The Fresh Prince was nowhere to be found.

I digress, the proceedings started precisely at 8pm with an African singer (I don't know the man's name, sorry) who chanted with the beat from traditional African instruments. The reason for this is to give a spiritual blessing over the night and to show that the roots of hip-hop started back in Africa.

It wasn't long until we hear a muffled voice over the P.A. system announcing the arrival of the legendary Roots. It took me a while to register that it was Black Thought, then I saw everyone turning around. I look in the back of the theater and I see ?uestlove leading a band of musicians through the aisle towards the stage while Black Thought rapped through a megaphone. ?uest must have seen The Guillemots do that and figured it would be good for the show. I'm joking. This march is similar to a New Orleans jazz march or a Philadelphia Mummers parade. I loved how it kind of breaks the barrier between performer and audience, like we're all going to be a part of the show.

For the first 30-minutes after The Roots took the stage, they did their own material including Star/Pointro, Act Too and The Next Movement. It was the point of the show where everyone was dancing, throwing their hands in the air and flowing with the beat. They got all the dance party music out of the way before the guests came on.

Here are my reasons why I think The Roots are the best hip-hop act in the past 10 years: they are trailer blazers. Once other rappers saw that The Roots were using instruments instead of samples to create music, they all wanted to do it because the results were fantastic. Their third album, 1996's Illadelph Halflife, started their rise to prominence and afforded them to make their follow-up, Things Fall Apart, one of the best hip-hop albums ever made. Like any good band, their music has changed, but it still relies on a poetic-style of rhyming mixed jazz-inspired riffs. When I listen to a Roots album, I feel like I'm listening to art, not some over-produced, sensationalized, corporate marketed tripe. The music is also a product of being from Philadelphia with it's diversity, idiosyncrasies and 70s Philly soul flavors.

Even though some of things that they have done outside of music has nudged me a lot, I still remain faithful to them. Not every band is perfect in my eyes. When I see ?uestlove with Madonna in a Motorola commercial, that bugs me. I don't think the crew I first saw live in 1996 would approve of that. In fact, they might have made a song about it. Their last album, 2004's The Tipping Point, wasn't a strong effort. Their new album, Game Theory, comes out August 29th on Def Jam. I'm very curious on what direction they will take being on the biggest label in hip-hop, which is run by Jay-Z.

Back to the show, Angelique Kidjo came onboard to mix-up the sound for the night, giving it a more World Music feel. I'm not familiar with her music, but you see the name often in concert listings or at the World Music listening booths at Tower Records. She's a Parisian based singer who specialized in soulful African music. She's a hell of a singer, who didn't lessen the energy of the crowd, who stood for the brief time she was on stage.

Mos Def was one of the already announced guests for the night. As we all know, Mos is one of the most versatile performers around being a stage and screen actor, a straight-forward poet and a rapper with a distinctive voice. One of the tunes he did was "The Boogie Man Song." Like jazz musicians, Mos and Black Thought traded off flowing duties with The Roots crew providing the notes. At the end of his set, he walked into the crowd and made his way around slapping hands up and down the aisle. When he got back up on stage, he talked about how intense it was performing at Radio City Music Hall.

Next-up was the Los Angeles-based duo J. Davey. Comprised of Brook D'Leau on keyboards and an American Indian headdress wearing singer, Jack Davey, they combined rock, dance and heavy funk beats to make an eclectic sound. They were pretty good. They sound like early Prince with modern beats.

I picked the second night to go because I had a feeling Dave Chappelle would show up. The Roots, Mos Def and Erykah Badu have all been on his show and in his Block Party movie. My spider sense was correct, so it was no surprise when he walked out. It gave the band a much needed rest and it allowed for Chappelle to speak his mind in front of a packed house. Blogging about stand-up doesn't do it justice, you had to be there. As I said, he talked about his disappearance, Natalie Holloway, Planet of the Apes and a book he read on pimp Iceberg Slim. He ended his 10 minutes by talking about "The Game" and how it lead to his departure from his show. I found it ironic that during his set, a swirling Verizon logo was behind him. Irony is a bitch. Here is some video about him riffing on Planet of the Apes:

After Chappelle got an enormous response and the house lights went up so that he could see how everyone loved him, Black Thought came out to introduce Bilal. Then I started to hear the opening chords to Radiohead's Kid A. So I'm thinking, that's cool to acknowledge them. Bilal started singing the lyrics, "Everythiiiiiiiiiiiiing." Oh wow, there going to do the whole song. I did a video of it but you can't hear anything with the sub woofers on top of me so it's pointless. I was in freak out mode. Just the idea is astonishing, hip-hop guys with a R&B singer, covering the most highly-regarded British rock band of our times. I wanted to yell to everyone, "They are doing a song from a band called Radiohead. They're not played on Hot 97." I'm hoping Thom Yorke gets wind of the tribute. Maybe he'll do a cover of "The Seed 2.0."

Up next was "The Queen." Although Queen Latifah was in attendance according to Black Thought, it was master R&B singer Erykah Badu. I think the term Afro-centric was coined for her. Her soul/R&B stlyings pays tribute to a long line of female African-American singers like Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. After seeing her perform a few songs, including "Tyrone", I look at Beyonce and the other clones and say, "Whatever." Anyway, obviously, since she sang on The Roots most popular hit, "You Got Me," they dabbled with it but not completely doing the whole song.

I would be remiss in pointing out her big head of hair. When she walked by me during Jay-Z's set, I said to myself, "Ummm, yeah. That's impressive."

When Black Thought announced that the party was over, Jay-Z walked out with a hood over his head like a Jedi Knight. The crowd noise was unreal. I too was screaming like an idiot. He then broke into "Public Service Announcement," everyone was jumping up and down to the beat. I screamed out, "Hey, I'm wearing that guy's underwear." I'm joking. We all know that I don't wear underwear. Ha ha!

It was like the time David Bowie came out to play with the Arcade Fire last year at Summer Stage. You have remind yourself that you're watching something that you'll never see again. That's why I took this video, the sound is pretty much non-existent, so don't bother listening:

His time on stage was brief, he flowed into "Encore" and that was it. Just after I took this video, I tried to get a decent picture, I put my camera back into my jacket pocket. I'm smiling like a dope standing against the stage, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Excuse me" and it's just Dave Chappelle trying to get by .. then Erykah Badu ... then Mos Def .. then guys who could probably kill me if need be. So in that brief second, I was watching the best M.C. in the past 10 years, being backed by the best hip-hop band in the past 10 years and being touched on the shoulder by the funniest comedian in the past 10 years who's not named Chris Rock. It was pretty surreal.

So Sean Carter was probably on for 4-5 minutes. When people were filing out, so many of them were on the phone screaming to their friends, "Dave Chappelle and Jay-Z were on stage." I texted a few people, but it was about the Radiohead cover. Here's video of the exit, where they filed out to the back of the room and around the hallways. Everyone had their camera phones out.

That's it. You won't see anything like this at Coachella, SXSW, Siren Festival or what-have-you.

To sum up, even if you're not a hip-hop fan, you have to appreciate the pure joy of performance that everyone brought to the stage tonight. It gave me a little faith that good hip-hop can still be played live.

Comments

[Marysella]

Man, I wish I would have been there. I tried to convince SOMEONE to come with me- sent out a mass email and all... NO ONE felt the excitement. Am I the only one I know that is willing to spend $100 on a good show? Note to self: find friends that can appreciate great music- and great food (that's a separate conversation). I even thought about getting a ticket and going dolo- but I didn't, after this article I regret it!!!!!!!!!! Specially that I ended up going to dinner and going to the movies for a movie marathon- dolo... I have seen the Roots, when I lived in DC and they gave me straight up goosebumps for about 3 hours- and I didn't even know all of their songs... I also filmed them for a DVD the Source was going to put out-they never did- in New Orleans. I experienced them first hand ON STAGE- talk about goosebumps. Great article.

[Angela]

I hope they'll do the reunion concert next year... sounds INCREDIBLE... nice to know that after all the drama that goes into getting all those musicians together to put together a performance of LIVE, INTERACTIVE music, ?uestLove feels 'accomplished' ; ) ~ and I know what you mean about Badu, too ~ she is a force to be reckoned with. proud, strong and TRUE. kinda like the music itself ~ be it hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, gospel, ROCK, and/or r&b... peace!

[Ames]

Thanks for this great review! You captured my experience completely. Though I'll admit I didn't rub shoulders with the crew like you did. Jealous!

Loved your review so much I name-checked it in mine. Check it out here at: http://blog.myspace.com/tixgirl

[Gotty™]

Very good coverage. Appreciate the report.

I'm sure you took a breath and realized that seeing all those cats rockin the stage had to be a once in a lifetime experience indeed.

[Trevor]

I was 3 rows behind you & I saw when Dave,Erykah & Mos came down the aisle(my battery on my camera had died by then DAMMIT)
you forgot Slum Village,who came on after Mos Def in tribute to the deceased J-Dilla. Hearring Mos sing the hook for SELFISH in place of Jonh Legend was awesome.And his enthusiasm was contageous.I enjoyed the show and look forward to seening the Roots again after Game Theory is released.

[me]

Great synopsis of the show! What a night I loved every frigging minute especially Dave Chappelle and of course Jay-Z. The crowd went wild when he took off his hoodie. I had to see the show because I love Questlove -- he is the best drummer of all time. I ran into the same problem as Marysella --- I couldn't talk any of my lame friends into going to the show and by the time I went to purchase my tickets I was able to purchase ONE ticket on the floor so I took a leap of faith and bought one. I almost lost my courage the day of the show but I said "what the hay," got dressed and drove myself to Radio City Music Hall. Damn, I'm glad I went because the show was truly history in the making. Lesson from the night, Jay-Z is godlike and it pays to take a risk. Peace.

[atm]

Thursday's show was teh suck, so you can thank your spidey-sense on that also.

Quest rambles about it on his MySpace blog and I would link to it but I'm lazy, so go find it

[rbz]

Thanks for the in-depth review...I was there too and the show was all you described and more...don't mean to be rude (nothing but love for those who feel how I feel about my Roots crew), but just wanted to point out that the Roots got together in 1989, not the mid-'90s. That makes it SEVENTEEN years together and they're just getting to where they belong...to be recognized as MASTERS of their game. LONG LIVE THE ROOTS!!!

[MusicSnobbery]

Many thanks for stopping by, gang. Big traffic over the weekend, thanks for to ?uestlove for his linkage.

I must admit I don't know who Slum Village was when they got on stage. It was my chance to run to the bathroom. Shhhhhh, don't tell.

[Matt Berlyant]

Great review! I wish that I would've gotten tickets! When I saw them in Philadelphia last September(my review can be found here:
http://japanesegodjesusrobot.blogspot.com/2005/09/what-they-do.html) they also made a similar entrance (and exit) with a New Orleans brass band accompanying them. The concert was a benefit for Hurricane Katrina vicitims, so it was fitting and quite moving.

[pwc]

wasnt this supposed to be a Dilla tribute?

[pwc]

wow you dont know who slum is WTF!? at a Dilla tribute, you don't know who slum is, thats waaaaaaaaack do the knowledge....pleeeeeeeaaaaaasssseeeee

[So Live Arts Movement]

Well, I must say that from the moment that The Roots came in with a martching band I was completly floored. I was originally supprosed to go by myslef knowing htat I would meet people along the way. My friend told me at the last minuite that she wanted to go... So we were on our quest to find better seats and sit together. WE almost got ripped off by this insistant dude from Miami, but luckily they were sellin tickets for 10th row center the day of the show for $70. And I sold my ticket right away for the same price, God is good.

That show was amazing, but nothing could top that encore with Jay Z I nearly feel out of my seat.

peace.al-b

[CB Slave]

My gf and I were supposed to go - she was running late - so I left w/o her.

I'm SOO glad I did. I would have been very close to 1st degree murder if I missed the show cause she held me up. Everything that night was on point...barring J Davey (not really my speed). I didn't even mind the clouds of purple haze floating above me during the show.

It was one of those moments in the history of hip-hop and music that will go down and the best of the best.

I was floored.

Okay - back to the cotton field I go.

[KP]

I did not appreciate your comment about Radiohead not being played on Hot97, your comment was very stereotypical. If you knew anything about true fans of the Roots you would never make a comment like that. True Roots fans are lovers of music, alot of different music, that is why we can appreciate the roots; because of their versatility, craft, and genuine appreciation for music. For you to assume that you were the only one in the audiance who knew that they were doing a tribute to Radiohead is a little jarring. You stated: "Just the idea is astonishing, hip-hop guys with a R&B singer, covering the most highly-regarded British rock band of our times." Why is it so astonishing Mr. Music Snob? The Roots and Bilal are not just some hip-hop guys and some singer, the Roots may be; if not equally, more reknown than Radiohead. Oh and for the record, they don't even play on Hot97.

[Tom Huggz]

Man that sounded like an amazing show, The roots with bilal covering radiohead....fuck! We don't get anything like that down here in Australia, buthey I'm seeing the roots 2 times in a week in april, I'm hoping for the goods.