Rarely do I get chills, but just the collective talent assembled on the stage last night to pay tribute to one of the true geniuses of hip-hop, Rakim, made the proverbial hairs on my arm stand up. Black Thought of the Roots, and Talib Kweli, 2 artists who are so intelligent, and lyrically gifted it is SICK, were tapped to pay tribute to 'the 18th Letter', the 'R'. From the opening verse of R's Paid in Full: "Thinking of a master plan/ there ain't nothin' but sweat inside my hand", I was mesmerized. Backed by The Roots, my favorite band, 2 of my favorite lyricists repping one of my favorite legends? It gets no better than this. And those Dapper Dan old-old school Gucci track suits were amazing.
I will link the clip to this performance when it is up on the 'Tube.