The Roots and Nas

Given that they’ve already landed themselves quite the day job - they’ve served as the house band for Jimmy Fallon since 2009, following him to The Tonight Show earlier this year - it’s a wonder that The Roots manage to get anything else done, but they’ve continued to record and tour to an impressive degree over the past few years; in fact, drummer and de facto leader ?uestlove even managed to turn out a superb autobiography last year, too. On stage, Roots shows are a lavish affair; musically, they’re one of the most diverse, experimental groups currently in operation in hip hop, and that’s reflected in a diffuse range of instrumentation; in addition to the typical band setup, F. Knuckles provides additional percussion and the aptly-nicknamed Tuba Gooding, Jr. plays the sousaphone - for the uninitiated, think ‘giant tuba’ and you’re just about there. More than twenty five years since their formation, Black Thought’s relentless energy in delivering vocals has barely faded; with a flow and style of delivery that’s at once lively and laid-back, he sonically channels a young Guru of Gang Starr, whilst touching upon a broad range of subjects lyrically. At the core of the band’s live success, though, is ?uestlove; he’s one of the tightest drummers around, and his beat-keeping is one of the most prominent facets in making The Roots such an engaging live proposition.

NAS's performance simply-put, is a flash-back throughout the years and albums. If I Ruled The World (Imagine That), my most memorable song from his set. It was a chilled summer evening, at Summer Set Music Festival back in 2012. Crowd was buzzing with lighters in the air, speakers blasting and NAS putting all he had into that mic. Wearing a blue and white shirt and jeans, with a tiny bit of bling and his shades, he electrified the stage. Coming out and getting the crowd pumped by saying, "Put Your Hands Up" and, "I love the smoke ya'll putting up in the air" often. Beats spewed out of the speakers with no vocals, NAS actually rapped all his song! No lip-syncing, no background vocalists, just him and the crowd. Now of course the die-hard NAS fans knew every word and rapped along with NAS, as for me, I rapped what I remembered, but it didn't matter how much of a fan you were or were not when you saw his performance. Because when he finished you came out a die-hard fan and a satisfied concert-goer. Since NAS doesn't really put out much new stuff, its easy to catch up on his music. So you can enjoy his performance to the fullest, every time.