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What's in a name? The Roots...

Posted at 12:29 PM on March 21, 2007 by Melanie Walker (4 Comments)

So, I decided to keep surfing my SXSW high and go to see The Roots last night. My love for these guys (especially for my man ?uestlove) runs deep. Their blend of verbal armory and jazz sensibilities makes for not only an incredibly original sound but an amazing live show. I've been told you've never truly appreciated The Roots until you've seen them live. I admit, I never have. So, I wandered on down to First Avenue to see The Roots live in all their splendor. Not just because I love The Roots but because of my whole musical philosophy started with them. They're called The Roots for a reason...

I would like to clear up some misconceptions about hip hop music and how I came to love it. I know a lot of people don't get it. They hear P Diddy and 50 cent and they just tune out, retorting with Hip Hop has no musical substance. It's all empty swagger's and shout outs and hasn't much soul to it. But, not all Hip Hop and Rap is about that. These folks are intelligent, talented individuals who have some incredibly poignant things to say about this world we live in if you just listen. But, I'll admit I had to break through my own misconceptions of Hip Hop before I really got what it was all about.

Most people wouldn't know it but I'm a huge Jazz lover, having my first radio gig as a morning jazz DJ right out of college in Monterey Bay, California, the home of The Monterey Jazz Festival. Jazz was what really lead me to Hip Hop. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, went to private school. My teenage life was as street cultured as Wonder Bread. Hip Hop wasn't the music of choice where I grew up. When I started listening to Jazz I became enamored with the verbal poetics of Gil Scott-Heron, the scat of Louis Armstrong and the free jazz styling's of Sun Ra. Then I discovered The Roots through a DJ in the UK named Gilles Peterson.

Sure I was schooled a bit in hip hop but, it just wasn't my bag until The Roots came along. Then it all came into perspective for me. The Roots Things Fall Apart was one of those cornerstone albums in my musical education. Common was quoted as saying Things Fall Apart attracted a new audience "coffeehouse chicks and white dudes" and me :) It was jazzy, subtle, and unpredictable all at the same time...like jazz. I'd known of The Roots but that album, and especially "Act Two (Love Of My Life)", became my anthem of 1999.

I played it on my show along with the jazz and it blended perfectly, like a mirror reflecting the roots of it's origins. That was it. It was all over for me. My show wasn't jazz anymore. It was everything and anything that fell in-between. Sure, the "jazz fiends" that listened religiously every morning weren't too keen on me playing anything that wasn't strictly jazz. But, a whole new audience was tuning in. They loved The Roots, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Common, Jazzy Jeff and they began to love and appreciate the Sun Ra's and Nina Simone's that connected it all together. I really felt like I was helping to continue jazz's traditions with other audience's.

I learned that if you stand in one place you aren't going anywhere... So, when you're listening to The Current and swaying along with The Decemberists or The Shins and Nas's "Can't Forget About You" comes on. Do me a favor. Don't switch the channel because hip hop's not your thing. Just give it a second..... Hear that? Yup, Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable". That what we do here at The Current. We play you great music new along side the old because we want to help keep the traditions and connect the dots. Just like The Roots...

Comments (4)

Wow, Mel, this is one awesome post....


Thanks!!

Posted by Ali Lozoff | March 21, 2007 2:48 PM

Thanks Ali. I get frustrated with folks misconception of Hip Hop. I think sometimes some details help people see things in a different light. You're not going to win everyone over but hopefully folks will try to see Hip Hop in a diffrent light if they know where it comes from. Plus, The Roots rocked last night :) Had to write an homage to them!

Posted by Melanie Walker | March 21, 2007 4:26 PM

I would say you have a great post. But I have to say that if you were schooled in hip hop and jazz then someone forgot to tell you about the Digable Planets that came out in the early 90's around '93. The album Reachin (a new refutation of time and space) was filled with jazz samples that blew the minds of the hip hop/rap world at the time and people couldn't believe that they were able to pull it off. Check out the album because although the album is over 10 years old groups like the Roots were highly influenced by the Digable Planets and what they did before them.

Posted by Kevin Mayberry | March 22, 2007 10:39 PM

Love Digable Planets! Saw them live at Coachella in California last year. Mind blowing experience! Agreed, they are definitely have their roots in jazz. Love live hip hop bands period... I know they're not hip hop but ever heard any Antibalas or Poets Of Rhythm? They have an MC jump in every now and then. Antibalas is coming to Minneapolis soon and we had them at our live broadcast at SXSW. I can't wait!!!

Posted by Melanie Walker | March 23, 2007 11:57 AM

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