ok---so i wake up yesterday
already feeling defeated for even what i will admit (thanks for playin nice scrapluv et al but i will call a spade a spade) was the 3rd worst show in roots history (1st when we got booed at our "homecoming" show at lincoln U in 95, and when murphy's law took over on the last show of the jeru/roots rhode island show (mal's keyboard didn't work, right speaker went out, hub's amp blew, riq's voice was out, audience was ice cold, and riq added fuel to fire by performing whole show with back towards audience.)---

don't get me wrong....the show was kick ass...


but you could never tell me in a million years that the act to get the least response would be the friggin headliners.

so already i was depressed.


this ain't over.


"pete and cl ain't coming" no reason no nothing. i was thrown only because pete and i was talking about doing a beat society portion in which he and fusion would make beats live on stage. don't panic nyc and dc--i just think something went down yesterday---so i hope.

so i go in panic mode--special ed? lyte? nice and smooth?!?!? they will riot if i don't have a ledgend portion!!!!!!!

no dice....i got 2 hours to reherse the cats and ass kick later on. we refine some of the new songs so that they come off more smooth. we are satisfied.

"whussup man" j live greets me.

except he is talking like yoda instead of j-live.


he lost his voice. oh god no. i NEED him to rock tonight. he provides one of the highlights for the few people who are weened on 106 and park (i will not use the word "idiot" no more) he says he's cool. my day is telling me otherwise.

someone taps me on the shoulder...."good news!! we got schooly d!"

whooo hooo!!! we can do his stuff easily!!!! the audience will be pleased (more on that later)

i see vast air's dj to tell him that maybe he should do his cool routine on tonight's set.

can't. he needs a special mixer and some records and a salt shaker.


salt shaker?


damn!!!

the show goes off a little better than before--i keep forgetting that new songs don't register as hype as familiar songs.

then j-live comes.


he starts with his barritone scratched voice and in a quick 2 minutes---he turns into elmo.

damn!! lord please make this night go right.

---we go smooth with the transitions....and then...here comes schoolly.


for those who were there last night.


schooly.



schooly we hardly new ye.


i don't know what happened. i told the crowd last night that i swore that ashton kutcher was gonna come out last night and punk us.


he was not drunk y'all.


for those of you that wonder what life is like with our beloved pal (the one we told him to master his you know what)---you now have a clue. school had glasses on but if you could see his puipils roll to the back of his head. and now he is headed towards my drum set.


i mean this was past embarrasment. this was.....


genius?


he did the alphabet first....

"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP....QRS....TUV.....WXY and Z..."


then he did this old man.


"this old man, he played one....he played knick knack on my thumb with a....."


he went all the way to 7 people. i aint seen no shit like this since......riq and odb back at our last irving plaza show. the same irving plaza show that got us banned for 7 years (dirty fucked shit up for us)

how do we even follow something like that? not one peep for pete or CL....


skillz came and fumbled 2003. but its all cool, he freestyled ish and it came off lovely.


then my new hero phonte from LB and jean grae salsa dance on "so fabulous"


salsa dance.

cot damn....phonte and jean were like fred and ginger. i was jealous. my last girlfriend taught me how to salsa dance but i never utilized it to full effect. watching those two last night was like watching dirty dancing/dance with me (you know that vanessa williams salsa joint?)---

and then the 18 verse "clones".



all and all.....this was a RARE ass show. i had fun while panicing at the same time.

check the resume

organix-93
(from the ground up)-94
do you want more?!!???!-95
illadelph halflife-96
things fall apart-99
(the legendary)-99
the roots come alive-99
phrenology-2002
the tipping point-2004
(the roots present...) 2004
homegrown: the beginne