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The Roots feat. Erykah Badu - You got me The Roots feat. Erykah Badu - You got me
Album: Things Fall Apart (1999)

Erykah Badu: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert Aug. 15, 2018 | Felix Contreras -- Some folks around the NPR Music office said they felt an almost spiritual connection to Erykah Badu during her visit to the Tiny Desk. And that was before she and her band even played a single note. It came from the waft of earthly scents that followed in her wake, to the flowing dreads and clothes that hung on her like robes.

After her self-introduction, which included a rundown of her spiritual and creative aliases, Badu rolled into one of her earliest musical calling cards, "Rimshot." It's an ode to the sound the percussionist makes when a drumstick is struck against the metal edge of the snare drum. On this performance, as on her 1997 album Baduizm, it becomes a device to play with time — stretching it, stopping it, suspending it. Propelled by jazz chords on the piano and the steady pulse of the acoustic bass, the playful performance unfolded in the tradition of the best bebop.

But the panoramic song "Green Eyes" is the centerpiece of Badu's Tiny Desk performance. It's wide-ranging in scope and musical arrangement and brilliantly executed by the jazz and hip-hop musicians in her backing band. The story of heartbreak is striking enough, but her interpretation showcases her formidable vocal skills. By the time it was over, we were all just as emotionally and spiritually spent as she was from the experience.

Erykah Badu is an artist for the ages. To old-school jazz fans like myself, names like Nina Simone, Betty Carter and Shirley Horn come to mind as much as Billie Holiday because of Badu's singular approach to a lyric. They all cut their own creative path and left behind a legacy that you can identify with just one note. Erykah Badu is on that same path, and one day her name will be mentioned along with the other Elders who share her spirit of musical adventure.

Set List
"Rimshot"
"Green Eyes"

Musicians
Erykah Badu (lead vocals), RC Williams (Keys), Braylon Lacy (bass), Cleon Edwards (Drums), Frank Moka (Percussion), Kenneth Whalum (Sax), Keyon Harrold (Trumpet), Dwayne Kerr (Flute)

Credits
Producers: Abby O'Neill, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Khun Minn Ohn, CJ Riculan; Production Assistants: Catherine Zhang, Téa Mottolese; Photo: Morgan Noelle Smith/NPR.

The Roots - You Got Me (Instrumental) The Roots - Things Fall Apart (2009)

Raphael Saadiq: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert Watch Raphael Saadiq play at the Tiny Desk.

This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest, a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

More from NPR Music:
Tiny Desk Concerts: https://www.npr.org/tinydesk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nprmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nprmusic

Dec. 5, 2019 | Rodney Carmichael -- The first time Raphael Saadiq played Tiny Desk, "it was really a tiny desk."

"And honestly we were kinda complaining about it," Saadiq laughs, recalling that performance in 2009, back when hosting intimate little concerts behind Bob Boilen's desk was still a fledgling idea at NPR Music. "Like, we kinda didn't wanna do it," he admits in hindsight. It wasn't until the video-taped version of his set hit the Internet and began picking up views that the lightbulb went off for Saadiq, too. "It's like probably the biggest streaming I ever had, so it's kinda good to be back — not kinda good; it's really good to be back."

As he tells this story, exactly one decade later, Saadiq's return to a slightly bigger Tiny Desk — to close out NPR's live-streamed Tiny Desk Fest — coincides with the biggest record of his career. Named for one of three brothers who succumbed to addiction, Jimmy Lee is his most personal, most vulnerable, most fearless work yet, and it comes at a point, more than 30 years into his career, when Saadiq has nothing left to prove or lose.

This is the same man, after all, who lit the fuse for soul's popular revival as the lead for Tony! Toni! Tone!, at a time when black bands bordered near-extinction. Then he led an entire generation of artists to the well and made them drink. In addition to a solo discography that cakewalks backward through the latter half of 20th-century funk and soul, his production credits read like a score card of black music MVPs over the last 20 years (D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, John Legend, Solange). If he's made it look effortless, that's because, sometimes, it has been.

Take the time when he was walking around the East Village in New York one day out of the blue. "I was like, let me see where can I get a joint from," as he recalls during our post-performance conversation. The thought led him to Electric Lady Studios, where D'Angelo had taken up residence while working on his second solo album. "I rung the bell: 'Is D'Angelo here?' He opens the door. He's like, 'What's up!' I said, 'You got a joint?' 'Hell yeah I got a joint.' He's like, 'Can we do a song?' I'm like, 'Yeah, whatever....'"

Needless to say the two already had history together — they'd co-written and co-produced "Lady," D'Angelo's biggest hit until that point — and they were about to make more: "We walk in and we do "Untitled [(How Does It Feel)"] in maybe like two hours," he says.

True to form, Saadiq is still a talent magnet. For his Tiny Desk Fest set — recorded on Halloween, which explains the costumed crowd — he's joined by rising soul singer and songwriter Lucky Daye, who released his Grammy-nominated debut album, Painted, and made his own Tiny Desk debut this year. Daye performs two songs from that album, in addition to backing Saadiq, who also brought along a sousaphone player for his Instant Vintage classic, "Still Ray."

His collaborative performance with Daye is yet another testament to Saadiq's widespread influence, which remains something of an open secret to those in the know. Meanwhile, Jimmy Lee continues to garner Saadiq the kind of attention typically reserved for newer artists. After a career spent contributing so much of his genius behind the scenes and painting over the dark spots in his past with bright, ecstatic strokes, his latest feat feels like a revelation.

"I'm really just shocked about my whole career," he says. "People say Raphael Saadiq is the most slept-on artist. I think I slept on myself, too. I would read this all the time [and] go, 'Slept on? I'm slept on? Cause I ain't Kanye? Cause I ain't talking loud?' Naw, they know."

Indeed, we always have.

SET LIST
"I'm Feeling Love"
"Be Here"
"This World Is Drunk"
"Love You Too Much" (Lucky Daye)
"Call" (Lucky Daye)
"Still Ray"

MUSICIANS
Raphael Saadiq: vocals, guitar; Lucky Daye: vocals; Rob Bacon: guitar, vocals; Alvin Ford: drums; DaQuantae "Q" Johnson: bass; Daniel Crawford: keys; Brent Gossett: sousaphone

CREDITS
Producers: Abby O'Neill, Bobby Carter, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative director: Bob Boilen; Audio engineers: Josh Rogosin, Natasha Branch; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Tsering Bista, Kara Frame, CJ Riculan, Jack Corbett; Production assistant: Zemoria Mathis; Executive producer: Lauren Onkey; VP, programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: Mhari Shaw/NPR

The History of America...Told in 27 Rap Styles PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL

The United States of America has a fascinating and deep history. And while a majority of the nation's story contains violence, genocide and thievery; one of the most important things to consider when thinking about America, is the IDEA of this country is as great as any country could be.

America was built on the foundation of constantly innovating and improving, so the future is as great as we can imagine it. Its fabric is threaded by the freedom to be yourself; the freedom to think, to speak, and to worship how you desire.

This is, and has been, obviously contradictory in a lot of ways. We obviously still aren't where we need to be, yet. This country is far from perfect, and you could criticize it in many ways. However, sometimes it's important to look back to see where you used to be, to be able to appreciate just how far you've come.

When I created this video, I wanted to use rap styles and humor, to help educate people on the rich, violent, and controversial history of The United States of America. So many school teachers bore their students to tears when they explain America's history, which is messed up, because America's history is far from boring. War, greed, famine, bloodshed, scandal, violence, assassinations, scalping, etc. What the f*** is boring about that?

I hope you enjoy this video. It took a lot of work, research, and patience to create.

Special thanks to: John Green & his brilliant YouTube series Crash Course for helping me brush up on my history knowledge.

Special thanks to: Michael "Seven" Summers for his constructive criticism and producer eyes/ears for how to improve this project. And also, for creating all the background beats. They're original tracks. No, you can't download them somewhere. No, I won't give you the instrumentals to rap to, don't ask me. If you want beats like this, hire Michael "Seven" Summers to make you beats.

Special thanks to: David Warren Sheldon, aka my dad, for bestowing his brilliant historical knowledge on me, and helping me understand the perspective and context of a lot of the events discussed in the video.

Please subscribe to my channel now.

Please follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/maclethal

Feel free to contact me at maclethalzzz@gmail.com

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BLACK THOUGHT FREESTYLES ON FLEX | #FREESTYLE087 The legendary Black Thought freestyle at HOT 97 with Funk Flex. 10 minutes of absolute BARS. Voted #1 freestyle of 2017.
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