Play I Some Music...

For those of you who missed it, I'm here to run down the "Rock The Bells" concert that took place at Jones Beach yesterday. Make no mistake. This is not a formal concert review. It's just my take on the whole thing- more or less. Apparently This Bug got there too late and I missed Common. For shame...because I love his energy and he goes in. I also missed House of Pain. No harm, no foul. I'm sorry, but seeing them do Jump Around was never at the top of my to-do list. I could run down the entire line-up but I'm lazy so you can see who was there for yourself by clicking here. Anyway, the headliners definitely made the best of the their time there. Nas and Damian Marley closed the show with performances of their upcoming album, Distant Relatives. I like the premise behind it. The idea is that no matter where we are from, Queensbridge to Israel, Jamaica to the U.K., we are all distant relatives. We all bleed the same. The highlight of their show together had to be when Nas rhymed over reggae beats like Welcome to Jamroc and in turn- Damian did his thing chatting over beats like One Love from Nas' first album. The switch-up was refreshing. Prior to that, what had me open were the few members of Wu Tang bringing out ODB's son to do Shimmy Shimmy Ya. It's crazy how much he sounds like him. And his mannerisms channel the spirit of Dirty to a tee. I can't lie. I was hurt to know that Nas and Raekwon were occupying the same space but didn't perform Verbal Intercourse. Blasphemy!

But honestly, what will stay with me most about the entire Rock the Bells tour had very little to do with seeing some of my favorite MC's do what they do best. KRS-One came out onstage and had some very relevant and poignant things to say. Of course he always reps when it comes to touting the title of the "Epicenter of Hip-Hop", but he didn't do it with bravado or entitlement. He spoke about heeding the call of something bigger than yourself in order to be successful. He spoke about spiritual grounding and being exactly where the Creator wants you to be in life.  That opportunity and serendipity converge at the time when it is right for you. That's when it hit me that I was meant to be at Rock the Bells on that fine Sunday afternoon.  One Love.