The Lone Microphone: The Roots of Your Soul...

Make no mistake...the foundation of Hip Hop & Soul remains strong and music fans were witness to that fact last night at Detroit's Fox Theatre. The Roots & Erykah Badu were in town on the first show of a tour leg that brought these two powerhouses together. The Roots are on the road promoting the new album, Rising Down while Erykah Badu is pushing her newest effort called New Amerykah Part 1 (4th World War). With a steady flow, they began to warm up, and once The Roots revived an old classic You Got Me, the audience came alive. Captain Kirk Douglas sang the "Badu vocals" on the track and then unleashed his guitar skills on the packed house. He began an improvised scat/guitar routine that took the performance to new heights...and stressing the point that these musicians have taken hip hop to a new level. Building on the frenzy, they then moved to The Seed (2.0) in a style that seemed to give a nod to the Motown sound and all the old school R&B that came before.

At one point, the re-worked version twisted into Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up. All this energy erupted as Black Thought spit the fastest rhyme I have heard from an MC.

After a break, Miss Badu graced the stage with all her sultry swagger. Mezmerizing, captivating & alluring are all words that come to mind. Another pure voice that is a true gift to music. Mixing old & new, & accompanied by 4 back up singers, she had the audience under her spell from the start. For the encore, she took a bold step and removed her signature Afro wig to present a type of performance art piece that combined her dance skills with her lyrics. She even came down off the stage and walked into the audience, a move which brought the house to it's feet.

As if that wasn't enough to fill your soul, The Roots made their way over to a Detroit club called Confidential and had a listening party featuring Black Thought on the mic and Questlove in the DJ Booth with the ear goggles on.

Quest & Black Thought at the Listening Party