Hip Hop on Lincoln Center

[Crenshaw_blvd]

Last Thursday, those omnipresent Okayplayers from Philly, The Roots, took over Manhattan's legendary Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Sponsored by Turnstyle NYC, this was the first official Hip-Hop concert to take place within those hallowed walls, normally home to the ballet and opera. The show was also, in part, a benefit for the Twin Towers Fund.

The evening opened on an unfortunate note, with Large Professor experiencing technical difficulties, becoming exasperated and then leaving the stage. However, the mood picked right up when The Roots took the stage, joined by Brooklyn's own, Talib Kweli. The diverse ethnic crowd enjoyed music from Kweli's last album with DJ Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal.

Coming off the success of his recent MTV Unplugged venture, Jay-Z bumrushed the stage to the volatile delight of the surprised audience. Hova performed, among other hits, his summer banger, "Izzo."

As the show was coming to its end, The Roots gathered backstage to decide what song to do as an encore. In a typical, but not often witnessed, band-huddle moment, ideas went from "let's do that jungle joint" to "how 'bout the Gang Starr joint." When they did take the stage again, the band launched into an uptempo version of their soulful, Grammy-award winning classic, "You Got Me" from 1999's Things Fall Apart.

Another pleasantly surprising moment occurred when The Roots showed off their Rock-n-Roll affection by covering classics from Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (where Black Thought improvised the unintelligible lyrics) to Guns N Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle." The band also provided their version of songs by, among other music notables, Jimi Hendrix, The Wu-Tang Clan, Salt N Pepa, Special Ed, and the Sugar Hill Gang.

The evening ended with a guest appearance by Rawkus Records' Pharoahe Monch who performed his club banger, "Simon Says" to the enthusiasm of the crowd. Once the concert lights went up, Black Thought, dressed in a button up maroon shirt, gave lingering audience members pounds and autographs. "Tonight was the seed, the foundation and the unchartered frontier for Hip-Hop and we blazed the trail. Who better to set it off than The Roots?" he told SOHH. Considering the positive, peaceful vibe of the first-of-its-kind evening, we couldn't think to argue.