Tag: Talib Kweli

CrossFiya featuring Talib Kweli, Rahzel, Chali 2na, Break Science, Soul Rebels & Fyre Dept

CrossFiya

The Soul Rebels 5/3/14 New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
Testify [Kanye West cover] (with Eric Krasno), Thank You [Jay-Z Medley] (inc. Ain’t No Love & Hard Knock Life), My Time, I Made It, Show Me What You Got [Jay-Z cover]

Soul Rebels with Rahzel

The Soul Rebels with Razhel 5/3/14 New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
Rahzel solo set > Rock The Bells [LL Cool J cover]

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Talib Kweli & Jesus Coomes

Words by Bee Getz:

Again, Fiyawerx Productions provided a break from the norm as it pertains to Jazz Fest, and this eclectic booking on the hip-hop side of the tracks provided a thrilling look at one of the best kept secrets in the game: Fyre Dept. This NYC- based production squad includes drummer Adam Deitch (clad appropriately in a NAS Illmatic t-shirt and his ubiquitous headphones), Eric Krasno on guitar, and the brothers Coomes, bassist E.D. “Jesus” and older brother (and Fyre Dept. OG) Tyler “TYCOON Beats.” Break Science keyboardist Borahm Lee rounded out the team, and they took the stage after De La SOUL REBELS and proceeded to destroy the packed house with authoritative, meditative beats, samples and classic loops. Beginning with some Ghostface Killah and J Dilla instrumentals, soon the Fyre Dept was fully ablaze. Deitch held down the head snapping breaks, and the brothers Coomes’ tasteful, minimalist approach had people marveling at how this here hip-hop sounded so alive, present, yet sacrificing absolutely no integrity in the name of dopeness.

Fyre Dept 5/3/14 New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
??? > ??? > Body Movin’ [J Dilla cover], Fever, ?That’s The Way It’s Got To Be?, Flankenstein > ???, ???

Within a few songs, Rahzel grabbed a microphone and stormed the stage. After some beatboxing workouts to get warm, “The Godfather of Noize” blessed the people with a distinctive medley of Whole Darn Family’s “7 Minutes of Funk” break, interspersed with verses and portions of its two most popular children – EPMD’s “It’s My Thang” and Jay-Z/Foxy Brown’s classic “Ain’t No N*gg*.” The Fyre Dept. then flawlessly worked into NAS’ “NY State of Mind” instrumental while Rahzel delivered original lyrics, along with a version of Bob Marley’s “Jammin’” for a refrain.

Fyre Dept with Rahzel 5/3/14 New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
???, Ain’t No Nigga [Jay-Z cover], NY State of Mind [Nas cover], Jammin’ [Bob Marley cover] / Voice Box

Fyre Dept with Talib Kweli

At this point in the show, things were wild on the dancefloor, yet extremely focused on the stage. The band brought out legendary Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli and the posse brought forth a medley of songs old and new. Beginning with “Cold Rain,” Kweli showed everyone just why he’s revered as a lyricist and performer. They brilliantly segued into his seminal anthem “The Blast” from the Reflection Eternal project of the Rawkus era; this slice of heat had damn-near everybody correctly pronouncing his name, with not a single thing left to question. “Hot Thing” was dedicated to all the lovers, and Kweli made sure to shout out Babyface as he dipped into this summertime park jam for the boo’d up set.

Fyre Dept with Talib Kweli 5/3/14 New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
Cold Rain, The Blast, What’s Real, Hot Thing, State of Grace, I Try, Get By

The Fyre Dept/Kweli collaboration reached fevered pitches as the BK MC and the veritable NY/LA dream team laced up a victorious version of “I Try” before spicing up things with a samba-influenced take on Kweli’s uplifting mantra “Get By.” This conclusion of the set had an army of heads chanting the chorus “Just to Get By” at the top of their one-hundred strong lungs; Fiyawerx Productions and the Fyre Dept. could agree on one thing, there was no putting out this CrossFiya.

Eric Krasno & Talib Kweli

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Break Science 5/3/14 New Orleans @ Howlin’ Wolf
Now You Want More, ???, Owner of a Lonely Heart [Yes cover], Brain Reaction, ???

Break Science with Chali 2na 5/3/14 New Orleans @ Howlin’ Wolf
Guns Drawn, Comin’ Thru, International

Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Pharaohe Monch, and De La Soul – Live at London’s Jazz Cafe 2007

Talib Kweli & Jean Grae
July, 2007
London, England @ The Jazz Cafe
FM/SBD (BBC broadcast 9/30/07) > MP3 > WAV > CDR > EAC > WAV > MP3

DOWNLOAD MP3

Radio Intro
Jean Grae: The Jam, Baby I’m Not The One, #8, ???
Talib Kweli: Where It Started At, Say Something (ft. Jean Grae), Eternalists, Old School, Broken Glass, Over The Counter, Funny Money, Definition, Respiration, Too Late, Hot Thing (verse 3 acapella, aborted), Listen!!, The Blast, More or Less, Move Somethin’, Get Em High, Get By
Encore: New York Shit (ft. Jean Grae), NY Weather Report, We Got The Beat, Black Girl Pain (ft. Jean Grae)
Radio Outro

Talib Kweli & Jean Grae

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Pharoahe Monch
June 10, 2007
London, England @ The Jazz Cafe
FM/SBD (BBC broadcast 9/30/07) > MP3 > WAV > CDR > EAC > WAV > MP3

DOWNLOAD MP3

Radio Intro, Right Here, Agent Orange, When The Gun Draws, R.I.P. Jam > Love, My Life, Push, Desire, Body Baby, Rehab [Amy Winehouse cover], Stakes Is High (ft. De La Soul), Radio Outro

Pharoahe Monch

Bilal 8/12/11 Indianapolis @ Madame Walker Theatre (VIDEOS)

This post is a guest review by Leo Weekly’s Damien McPherson.

The Madame Walker Theater is showing its age. The room dates back to the 1920s, but since its renovation in the late 70s, it appears little has been done to modernize the space (though their website does mention fundraising attempts). It’s still a beautiful building, wedged into its intersection on the edge of downtown Indianapolis, and the missing “K” on the rooftop’s sign at least gives a bit of personality even in the face of sadness at urban decay from historical sites.

Maybe I was looking a bit too closely, but by the time Bilal hit the stage, he looked pissed off. The sound in the room wasn’t great, and the 935-seater was barely half-filled (we sat in the sparsely populated balcony so as to give you the astounding visuals accompanying these words). One of the keyboardist’s platforms wasn’t plugged into the mix, leaving out many of the songs’ electronic bleeps and bloops and leaving room for a roadie to hover at the side of stage laying cable, distracting to say the least. The guitar amp failed during an early solo, and it appeared the drummer was having a monitor issue. It wasn’t until almost halfway through the show, during “Sometimes”, that what approximated a smile crossed Bilal’s mouth and he looked comfortable. None of this took away from his vocal performance, mind you, as the man is a machine. His perfectly controlled vocal abandon is one of modern music’s marvels: soulful, jazzy, and church-infected. The guy could sing Nickelback songs and sound like a genius (don’t prove that, though, please).

Something To Hold On To, Make Me Over, Gotsta Be Cool, Lord Don’t Let It, For You, Reminisce (flipped with the J Dilla “The $” beat), Fast Lane, Sometimes:

The first half of his set was split between his debut, First Born Second, and his shelved-but-leaked followup “Love For Sale”. He seems perfectly at ease on stage with the audience’s familiarity with the material they shouldn’t know, and proves himself a bigger man than me. I’d play half of one of those songs, and the second I spot someone singing along, I’d probably stop the song and ask for ten bucks from the person. Glad he didn’t, though, ‘cause I didn’t have any cash on me, much as he deserved it. “Fast Lane”, the non-representative first single from his debut, finally got the arrangement it deserved outside of its Dr. Dre studio sheen.

“Sometimes” is always a wonder, the little song that could. It was never a single, but the crowd demands it and sings along as if it were a standard. The second half of the set is mostly from his latest, Airtight’s Revenge, and the crowd wasn’t as responsive (though this was definitely a ‘giving’ crowd, very loose and supportive) to this material. “Little Ones”, dedicated to his autistic son, was a definite highlight, the emotional connection to the song a tangible thing. He closed the main set with the incredible “All Matter”. While I’m partial to the arrangement on Robert Glasper’s Double Booked, here he worked magic on his Airtight version. This song easily takes permanent residence in my favorite songs of the last decade. Just listen/watch.

Levels > All Matter:

Beggars not being choosy, the crowd’s response at this point didn’t really require an encore. They seemed to give up their cheering rather quickly. Thankfully, Bilal’s show is built for an encore, as he hadn’t performed his biggest song yet or this tour’s epic closer. “Soul Sista” melted every woman in the room, as it’s done for a decade now, while the Led Zeppelin cover “Since I’ve Been Loving You” melted the walls. A great quickie road trip, another excellent Bilal show (my second of this album cycle), and here’s a near perfect visual representation to enjoy. -Damien McPherson

Since I’ve Been Loving You (Led Zeppelin cover):

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