Crystal Palace Park, London
“Still rockin’ with it 30-something years later.”
Through a day of tumultuous weather, Crystal Palace’s South Facing Festival produces one of the most memorable shows dedicated to hip-hop’s “Golden Era”; The Roots closing in thunderous style.
Until now, hip-hop has sauntered in and out of music’s limelight for the best part of fifty years. From its (self-pronounced) inception in the mid-seventies, to its commercial height in the nineties, and its triumphant mainstream return over the past decade or so, the movement has irreversibly evolved in myriad ways. As proven by tonight, one of several nights of Crystal Palace’s eclectic lineup for South Facing Festival, many of our present (and past) generation still feel a great affinity for the “Golden Era” of this beloved genre; typified by today's chosen alternative hip-hop groups, The Pharcyde, De La Soul, and The Roots.
The calm before the onsetting storm saw the former trio group take to the stage, offering an imminently upbeat aura of this alternative route within hip-hop; reminiscing and postulating on their genesis in the late eighties. As rapper Fatlip embraces the crowd for their support “30-something years later”, a deluge of hits spring towards us; taken from their debut LP, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, which tries its mightiest to inflect an infectious optimism against the foreboding weather conditions.
A blistering thunderstorm marred by torrential downpour ensues soon thereafter, delaying proceedings for an hour. As the crowd stand firm, they’re ultimately rewarded for their at-all-odds persistence; New York City’s De La Soul continuing an upward, buoyant trajectory of hip-hop’s alternative era of yesteryear. Whilst some moments prove cumbersome for Posdnuos and Masego to begin with, the belated arrival of Talib Kweli undoubtedly uplifts those still rain-drenched, impressively substituting himself for the late Trugoy the Dove in the revisiting of their seminal debut, 3 Feet High and Rising.
As night descends and the crowd dries off, we’re met with the extensively-poised line-up of tonight’s headliner, Philadelphia’s home-grown The Roots. Transcending into an explosive, winding and eclectic set from this legendary hip-hop act, whose tenure has overseen numerous personnel changes, each member duly leans against one another in all the right moments: drummer Questlove’s effortless beat switches, Captain Kirk Douglas’ wailing guitar solos, sax/trumpet call-and-responses, and Black Thought's innate rapping ability to tie it all together.
Tonight’s true stand-out moments arrive primarily at the band’s excavation of their seismic 1999 LP, Things Fall Apart, with a litany of timeless hits (‘Step Into the Realm’, ‘The Next Movement’, ‘Without a Doubt’, and ‘Here I Come’); a stark reminder of their cuttingly-infectious aura. Yet the main apex to The Roots' thrilling set comes alongside Corinne Bailey Rae’s cameo within ‘You Got Me’, seamlessly providing sumptuous vocal lines within the main chorus; leaving an extensively-orgasmic guitar solo and medley of covers trailing in Douglas' thunderous wake.
Whilst the crowd reveres and revels amongst myriad covers of Kool and the Gang, Herbie Hancock, and Curtis Mayfield, The Roots undoubtedly mark one of the most genre-defining, throwback sets of the year thus far. Poised within the steeped history of Crystal Palace Park, South Facing Festival has expertly curated an indelible ‘hip-hop day’ with an enticing progression through the movement's heyday. In spite of the unpredictable British summer time, the crowd remained transfixed and inspired by The Roots; transcending a wealth of time and space since their inception 30-something years earlier in the U.S. to South London’s park on this celebratory, if tumultuous, day dedicated to hip-hop.
9/10
For further information on tickets for next year's South Facing Festival please visit here.
Photo is courtesy of Oliver Goodrich whose work can be found here.
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