The Roots + Jean Grae + Skillz + Martin Luther + Dice Raw (Okayplayer Tour)

OK, picture this. It’s the hottest day of the summer. Searching desperately for something to occupy yourself and the gang of ragged youths assembled at your house, you decide to hit an amusement park. You pack into your beat-up ’89 Cavalier and spend the next 45 minutes frothing in anticipation of the barrage of adventurous twists, turns, loops, and spins that the park’s attractions are destined to send you on. Unfortunately, upon arrival the realization sets in that your plan is far from perfect as you get lost in a sea of screaming kids, visors, sunscreen, and gaudy florescent fanny-packs. Determined not to let the thousands of other visitors ruin your mood, you get in line for the first roller coaster you see. After waiting in line for almost an hour, the 35-second ride loses some of its edge and you begin to question whether this was a good decision or not. This is what the Roots’ portion of Toronto’s Okayplayer date was like. Having firmly established themselves as one of the tightest acts on the planet, the Roots can hold their own on stage against any band from any form of music. Their performances have been described as legendary, and having witnessed them live before I’ll fully attest to this point. Maybe it was the long drive from the previous night’s show, or the hassles that come with dealing with overzealous border guards, or perhaps even the shoddy sound inside the cavernous venue. Whatever it was, the Roots failed to build any kind of momentum during what should have been one of the best shows to touch down in Toronto this year. After a quick set from Skillz that included some hilarious jabs at R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Eminem, Black Thought came out and gave a flattering introduction to Jean Grae. Backed by the Roots, she grabbed her mic and asked “Everybody in the club is you with me?” before throwing down the opening rhymes from “What Would I Do” off of her 2002 masterpiece Attack of the Attacking Things. Her strong delivery, mixed with the soulful instrumentation from the Roots, was warmly received by the rapidly expanding audience of 20- and 30-year-olds. After performing a solid version of “Keep Livin'”, the New York MC wrapped up her 15-minute set with “Hater’s Anthem”. Ripping through the track, her vocal assault was accentuated by the repeated chorus of “Fuck You.” Not one to shy from emotion, the crowd could feel Grae’s blood boiling on stage as she extended her middle finger and screamed each four-letter profanity. The only downside of her powerful performance was the shortness of it. For the heads in attendance paying attention though, they were treated to a brief glimpse of one of the genre’s brightest young hopes. With hip-hop becoming more stagnant each year, Grae’s style, delivery, and lyrical depth offers a positive outlook for the future. As “Hater’s Anthem” wound down, Black Thought re-emerged from the shadows to assist with the last round of the chorus before assuming his role as the voice for Philadelphia’s finest. Beginning with Do You Want More?!!!??!‘s “Proceed”, the Roots kicked off their headlining set with several laid back jazzy numbers that gave the show an early jam session feel. The crowd gathered up front danced along to the music, while those huddled in the middle and the back treated the sounds emerging from the stage as background music to their conversations or quest to get to the bar. Just when the group seemed to be building some steam, they took a quick break from performing their own material so that Dice Raw and guitarist Martin Luther could each steal the spotlight for several minutes. While both were equally talented, the stoppage completely sucked out the energy that was starting to fill the club. Despite the bad sound and muffled vocals the band started to get things moving again with “Break You Off”. However, after the cut from 2002’s Phrenology the pace of the show slowed down again. Not easily defeated, the crew rebounded with a phenomenal version of “The Next Movement” and a fantastic moment that saw Dice Raw, Skillz, Jean Grae and Toronto’s K-os joining the band onstage for a finale that had everyone in the venue going wild. For a few short minutes the energy level on stage and on the floor mirrored one another. The near-capacity crowd danced and waved their hands as each MC took a turn at the mic. With an ending like this, you’d think it would be easy to sustain the momentum right through the encore. But, after a long break the flow of the show was once again disrupted. Despite strong showings during a cover of “Superfreak”, “The Seed 2.0”, a reggae-inspired take on “You Got Me” (with Luther doing a formidable job of filling Erykah Badu’s parts), and a goose-bump inspiring drum solo by ?uestlove, the Roots just couldn’t maintain any kind of momentum. When the group was on, it seemed like there was no stopping them as they had the audience hanging on their every movement. Unfortunately every moment like this was matched by a longer bout of downtime in which the crowd seemed to be more involved in other tasks. After about a hundred minutes of way too many downs and not enough ups I’d had enough and decided to head home. While not an entirely lost evening, like the kid at the packed amusement park it became evident that after awhile the rush just wasn’t worth the wait.