March 30, 1999

London WC2 Astoria

[B]The Roots[/B] play to an audience which was theirs anyway, but which they bust several sweats to win over...

Yeah, The Roots are live hip-hop, but that ain't what makes 'em special. What makes The Roots special is just how good their itchy, firebrand hip-hop is. Never mind that their new 'Things Fall Apart' album is one of those 'sleeper' LPs that'll smoothly sneak its way into end-of-year lists, in concert The Roots defiantly take the struggle to the people.

With a set which is part homage to hip-hop history, and part debunking of the generally accepted falsity 'live rap shalt not entertain' (Miles Davis-esque keyboard excursions, skits on chart hits), The Roots play to an audience which was theirs anyway, but which they bust several sweats to win over.

Of course, The Roots make it all look so easy. As Black Thought ambles about the stage, razor-edged rhyming pouring forth slick, but not too slick; as Malik B, tag-team partner, skulks mischievously in the background and lets loose torrents of oral decknology; as the band stoke up the fury with stop-on-a-die licks; as a guest vocalist steps ably into Erykah Badu's shoes for a wrenching 'You Got Me'...

It ain't the raw materials that make The Roots special, but what they do with 'em.