Roots don’t grow straight; they intertwine with the environment in which they find themselves. Move, grow and expand by the grace of and sometimes in spite of whatever surroundings they might find. The Legendary Roots Crew is a well developed tree that shows its root map when all the influences in the lives of all the band’s members come together across time, space and genre to build a sound that is authentically hip hop.

Hip hop is not dead, far from it. It is alive and thriving, that is why it may be unrecognizable to some – nothing that lives is static, so hip hop is no different – hip hop is no longer as simple as gangsta rap, in fact it never was. I have read and heard people that insist that the Roots are not a hip hop group because they have live instruments and a ‘rock feel’. To me this is an absurdity. Was hip hop not noted for being a groundbreaking genre precisely because it did bridge traditional categories? Praised (and often criticized) for synthesizing established musical hits and urban influences into a unique sound by taking what was mainstream in the form of samples, and cutting and mixing it into something new? What’s not hip hop about a crew that has fed off the same roots? Soul, funk, (real)R&B, and yes rock – these are all part of the environment that has fostered the birth and growth of hip hop. Roots is not disconnected from this, in fact I have never seen them perform or heard a song that made me feel that the Roots is anything but hip hop – that they have somehow emerged as some kind of rock band. Was Run DMC a rock band? Hell no. And if live instrumentation rather than samples strictly from the gramophone makes it not hip hop, somebody better go back to school. Guess what haters, every sample in every song in the first generation of hip hop was inspired by or recorded from a live instrument. Disturbingly obvious, I know. Moreover, this band makes those songs sound damned good – like paraplegic-ass-moving good – soul to the power of 10. If that I ain’t hip hop, then I got no clue what is.

I went to see Erykah Badu yesterday, and what I got was a Roots show. I am not the least bit disappointed. Due to a failure in bus navigation, Erykah and crew did not show up until after 10pm despite being billed to begin at 8:15. The only problem with the Roots playing an extra long set was that they didn’t plan on it. They set out to play an intense 30-45min set, bringing on heavy energy, non-stop song play and charisma galore – and it worked, the crowd was raring to go, grooving and growing as the sky grew dark. And when it seemed they might leave the stage around 7:30, we were happy when they played a long rendition of You Got Me til about 7:45. And when 7:53 hit, and the band was giving each other more and more ‘what do we do next’ glances, I began to wonder just what was going on. Eventually, I saw ?uestlove mouth to his band mates that they had to play for a full hour – then once the hour had passed, that they should keep going until 9. They were clearly not pleased that their intended whirlwind set was turning into a headline calibre show; exhausted, they attempted to laugh it off and push through, digging easily into their repertoire to keep the non-stop entertainment going, throwing in a few rousing covers like Curtis Mayfield’s Move On Up, a little old school Wu-Tang from The Swarm, and a good natured rendition of Snap your Fingers. When 8:53 rolled around, Black Thought had had enough, and stormed off the stage with most members following shortly thereafter. ?uestlove ever fulfilling his role as both backbeat and backbone, remained on stage to reassure us all that though they were winging it due to the unexpected disappearance of Badu and friends, the show would go on and we’d be well entertained – i.e. no need for rioting folks, your opium shall flow.

So the lovable percussionist, re-joined by guitarist Kirk Douglas a.k.a. Captain Kirk, and new (and highly proficient) bassist Owen Biddle, performed Bob Dylan’s Masters of War, appropriately and slightly humorously capturing the sense that the band was being forced into battle in a war it did not ask for. This and a drum solo ate some time while Black Thought and the rest, including Kamal on keys, F Knuckles on percussion and special treat Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr.” Bryson, cooled off backstage, and re-grouped to bring us another ½ hour of quality music and entertainment. And though we were sympathetic to a band that had to play about 5x as long as they expected to, we were all (if not most) secretly really glad the headlining act got lost because let’s face it, the Roots Crew consistently brings just about the best live hip hop show anyone has ever seen every single time they perform. The chance to hear an extended performance that included all our old favourites was nothing to complain about – in fact, out of four live performances, this was the longest I’ve seen. Thank you Thank you and Thank you.

By the time Erykah finally hit the stage, the crowd had been waiting for over 3 hours at Jacques Cartier Pier, including 45minutes of listening to the same scratched funk CD on repeat. It’s no wonder she got booed – during a slight pause, voices could be heard yelling “Roots!” Badu’s far out theatrics (“is she on acid?” I heard a puzzled voice ask), and erratic vocal improvisations (“she’s no Mariah Carey,” another voice commented) were not impressing a crowd that had been spoiled rotten a mere hour earlier. For her fourth song, she broke out into the hit single “On and On” from her album Baduizm to appease the impatient crowd – I don’t know if it worked however, because by that time I had to leave – it was 10:20 and the show had to end by 10:30 (the same time I had to be elsewhere).
It is regrettable to me that I didn’t get to see a stellar Badu show. Though I love to listen to her music, I have now been let down two out of two times that I have seen her perform live – both times upstaged by her opening act. The first time it was Jill Scott – anyone who has seen this bundle of pure talent perform knows exactly what I’m talking about – soul, charisma and operatic training translated through hit songwriting skills (Scott is the lyricist of Badu & the Roots breakthrough hit, You Got Me). Badu- your friends are too cool, if you want to shine, find an opener that won’t steal your thunder. Then again, if you do, I may not show up.