The Next Movement

On Thursday night I attended the opening night of The Jam, a series of Roots' shows taking place at New York City's Highline Ballroom. The venue, if you've never seen it, is really something special. It's an intimate, blue lit scene with a stage designed to provide onlookers with a supreme view of the show. Even at back-left, my cronies and I had a pretty impressive point of view. Good enough to almost smell the leather on Black Thought's jacket.

The show opened with Thought commenting that the band had no idea what they were going to get into, and that we shouldn't know what to expect. Having been to ten or so Roots shows in my life, I was pretty sure I knew what I was getting into. I didn't. From start to finish, they didn't perform one song or verse that anyone in the crowd was familiar with. It was a Black Thought freestyleathon from start to finish and boy oh boy does he know how to rap. I came to the conclusion mid-show that there is not one rapper in the world who has more stage experience/presence than Thought. There are very few artists out there who can step onto a stage without a plan, and vocally conduct an hour long show. Impressive to say the least. More on Black Thought later...YW's 50 Greatest Rappers is still poppin'.

About 30 minutes in, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and John Forte enter stage right. Each grabbed the mic to showcase their freestyling ability. They succeeded. Obviously, The Roots called on their buddies to make opening night as special as possible, but I wouldn't be surprised if more and more special guests begin to show up and perform at The Jam. After all, there is something to be said, and hopefully a solution, for the absence of organic improvisation in hip hop--the foundation upon which the genre was built.

I strongly suggest that all of you, Roots fans or not, attend one of the thirteen shows left. Tickets are only $10. Purchase them here. It's quite a spectacle.