May 2012
21 posts
@questlove @blackthought @JohnLegend The Roots : Colorlines has called them “one of the most prolific and politically astute musical acts of any genre.” To me, their innovative stylings typify the type of creativity that fosters hip hop as a global force.
The marriage of Questlove’s percussive genius and Black Thought’s bleeding pipes takes listeners to a new level. Forget “dumbing it down” for the masses, The Roots fuels critical thought complete with jazzy riffs and an open minded lyricism that grants listeners a passport into the unknown.
When I interviewed John Legend in South Africa a few years ago for RAPtivism, he spoke to me about their collaborative album project “Wake Up!” which covers protest music from the 60s & 70s touching on topics such as war, poverty and collective consciousness. Check out one of my favorite songs from the album : “Hardtimes”
For more on The Roots, visit their website http://theroots.com/
This applies to #music #hiphop :)
My friend MADlines just came out with this dope mixtape called MAD Habits..check it out, dope Oakland hip-hop..
Excerpt: “… Remember when Malcolm was sampled so much that he wound up being on the cover of the Source Magazine? Say what you will, the powers that be worked overtime to remove Malcolm from our collective consciousness..It’ll be interesting to note how many newscast make mention of his birthday today… or how many urban radio stations that’ll quickly disperse info on Kanye and Kim dating but will be silent and omit Malcolm’s birthday or any activities related to it, in their daily banter..
I say on this birthday lets do more than give a shout out.. Let’s return Malcolm back the forefront of Hip Hop consciousness…”
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My two cents:
Peep this video by a pioneering ‘RAPtivism’ artist out of Sénégal featured on the RAPtivism album!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0B1iP5OwF8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Didier Awadi feat. M1 (Dead Prez), ‘The Roots’ — it opens with some archival footage of Malcom X that tie into the theme of the song!
…One of my good friends in the UK said “hip hop didn’t die, it immigrated.” To some extent, I really agree with what he said and believe that we all need to be conscious of what’s going on globally to know where hip hop is going…
Bless! A
Gabriel Teodros, Westlake : Class of 1999
“Aisha Fukushima traveled across 4 continents collaborating with artists from everywhere and filming a documentary for her debut project. What was your first album like? It wasn’t as cool or as inspiring as this. Aisha’s the truth.” - Gabriel Teodros
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Thanks and Big Up! Respect Fam!
