Questlove, the drummer and bandleader of The Roots, will put together a cross-generational all-star tribute on Sunday night (February 5) at the 2023 Grammy Awards to mark the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. , was given an almost impossible task. How would you describe the full American art form that spread from coast to coast and around the world without excluding someone’s favorite MC?
Well, according to a series of posts from the next day’s quest, he did his best, but there are several good reasons why he didn’t get everyone’s No. 1. replied about: (Some people are asking if we play the erasure game, so yes….yeah I haven’t played it.”Why wasn’t Dada there? in response to the question,” he tweeted. .
The answer was simple, he added. Already booked 2. He flatly turned down our offer 3. Or he’s not going to take the third option. A fourth reason is that the team has decided to wait for the two-hour taping of the special, scheduled for August, to give them more space to fill in the blanks. decided to avoid the deceased and give flowers to the living.I learned from VH1 Honors that not all rappers are good MCs and bad karaoke is a dangerous slope. “And so many legends have passed that someone’s fortune has overheated.”
Questlove The Roots’ timekeeper said in an interview that his first special segment cut spanned nearly half an hour. So he had to cut it down to about 12 minutes for his heart-pounding final version. Finally, a passionate and moving medley involved everyone from Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, Run DMC, LL Cool J, Salt and Pepa, Rakim, De La Soul’s Postdonos (Kelvin Mercer) to Scarface . Ice-T, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, OutKast’s Big Boy, Method Mad, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Too Short, Swizz Beatz, The Rocks and freshman Lil’ Baby and Gloria.
“This has evolved like crazy. All my suggestions were 20 minute presentations by Breakbeats/Graf Legends/Dancers/DJs/Beatboxers,” continued Quest. “You’ll be shocked at how quickly 25 to 40 seconds go by and you won’t even hit the halfway mark in 1995. Remember, 1973 to 2023 was my goal. My 10 at one point I said, “You should do all the women!!” I didn’t have time to do the “Some Kind Of Monster”/Kumbya thing because of it).
The notoriously methodical drummer has said he has a few standards he wants to follow (“Alive? Harmony? Turntablism? Fighting Shape? NYC? LA? Bay? ATL? NAWLINS.” ?HOUSTON?MIDWEST? [checkmark emoji] Born before 1960? Born after 1995? super lyrical? style? original? In general, is he known for at least two generations?”). But if your choice wasn’t there, there might be a reason.
One was that two “important” acts were canceled 10 minutes before airing. Please understand that I literally tried to squeeze everyone,” he promised.
As to why there wasn’t much representation from the new generation of rappers in the 2010s, Quest also explained it. But Ice-T as the only LA representative at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is… WILD!! Again, you might not like it, but most hip-hops have side gigs. Acting was the main issue. Many movies have been shot.
In an interview before the performance, new york times, Quest further elaborated on the insane rush to put the set together, with two people dropping out at the last minute (Lil Wayne, Future) and what he needed to recruit to get Missy Elliot. Nearly Jerry Maguire’s level of pampering. Additionally, many major acts (Drake, Jay-Z, Public Enemy) have accused the Recording Academy of not giving hip-hop its due awards for years.
See Questlove’s tweet and full performance below.