I can remember being in elementary school before there was a holiday to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. My teacher led us in a debate as to whether there should be a holiday or not. If presidents like Washington, who led rebellions against the unfair practices of the government of their time, should be so honored, why not Dr. King? I couldn't put that into words then. I just knew he deserved to be remembered.
This year is special because the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama fulfills the promise of Martin Luther King, Jr.
So to commemorate these two great men, a quick mix of inspired and inspirational songs.
"The only time brothers like us be poppin' champagne is when we gonna celebrate Barack Hussein!" ~ Q-tip
Oh my. Can't figure out whether to download this or not. Like, it's not really the death of autotune if I perpetuate it by listening to the entirety of this mixtape, right? Audio samples are pretty hilarious, though.
I really didn't care for "Young Folks." It picqued my interest most the other day when reading that Peter Bjorn and John had been using a pre-recorded whistle for tour performances. Anyway. I dig this new track. Kind of like an updated indie cousin to Gorillaz' "Dirty Harry," no?
Got the heads up about some of the Okayplayer holiday jammy guests, so hustled over to B.B. Kings late enough for a shut door and a lot of cops dealing with the aftermath of Jim Jones being kicked out. Which was enough distraction for me to slide in. This is like the inverse of the time years ago in Chicago when I was using a bad fake ID for a Prince aftershow. Malcom Jamal-Warner was in front of me in line trying to bring about twenty people in with him, causing enough confusion to slide me right through. Later he got up on stage to rap while Prince played the drums, and the crowd chanted, "Go Theo! Go Theo!" Alas, I digress...
Missed the Roots opening set, and thought Alicia Keys had put on weight and a track suit to hype the crowd on the mic with a lot of talk about Staten Island, but I guess that was Amanda Diva. Talib Kweli and his new group Idle Warship came on and did a few songs. Um, Res is in the group. That's good, I guess. They seemed to be jacking a beat from the first Daft Punk record on one track. Make of that what you will.
The Roots back out next, bringing out Estelle for a rocking soca-style take on You Got Me. Fire. Very well done, lots of simultaneous rapping/singing between her and Black Thought. And she looked good too - new haircut ala Lauryn Hill somewhere before the Fugees reunion went wrong for the second time. Anyway, she stuck around to do Come Over, and the she went away. Too bad.
Fela-inspired jam session next. Roots members plus Robert Glasper and James Poyser on keys, and Gary Bartz out on sax. Gary Bartz! GARY BARTZ. That's pretty heavy. No time for links today, but do some netsearch. Music is his sanctuary, yo.
Bilal and 88-Keys stepped up next. I knew Q-Tip was on later (and hence I missed the big MC throwdown with Black Thought and Pharaoh Monche, and Verses From the Abstract, damn), but I was late to another gathering, and Bilal was doing straight crazy from note one. "DWEEEEEEE! BWAAAAAAAA! SHUUUUUUUU!" Doesn't that come at the end (thinking the Radiohead cover here - High and Dry, not Everything In Its Right Place, which I guess did come at the end)? Anyway, it did for me. I was out. Early, but caught some nice music. Thanks Frank 151 and OKP!
P.S. What would Jim Jones have done with the Roots?
Further down the Adele remix road, Mick Boogie has done an '88-themed mixtape of a handful of tracks. So if you ever wondered what your favorite Adele song sounded like with a Slick Rick loop under it, well, now you can listen to see how long it takes you to decide that it doesn't make a lot of sense.
I'm digging the Green Lantern mix of Melt My Heart To Stone a little more, if only for the organic little groove on the second verse. Can I just get a whole track of that?
