“Ours is excellence,” he said before introducing one of the most excellent singers and songwriters around, Ms. “What’s your passion?” Black Thought queried, running through a number of possibilities. Yes, The Weeknd had just about everyone in the crowd proffering (usually high-pitched) screams and throwing up XOs as he lustily flicked his tongue between sultry slow jams.īut as soon as The Roots took the stage and settled into one of their trademark grooves, the audience’s mood immediately softened. Yes, A$AP Rocky blessed the crowd with the first live performances of new music from At.$AP in front of (very subtle) hazy purple visuals, lamenting the party-ready crowd’s non-response to his spaced-out jams. Yes, DJ Mustard spun the most lit set of 2015 (recipe: play the first 30 seconds of every rap hit from the past year and a half bonus points if you produced about half of them). Its cutting-edge hip-hop sound – delivered here in the shape of an ethereal flute sample offset by sharp, clipped minimalist beats by producer Karriem Riggins – formed the backbone for the singer’s hard-hitting meditations on racial inequality and black oppression.Their set followed a series by noted stylists DJ Mustard, A$AP Rocky, and The Weeknd, serving as something of a salve for the audiences trap-beleagured and 808-worn ears. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) found Badu taking a huge stylistic and thematic detour from her previous efforts.

The track ends with a delicious nod to rare-groove man Johnny Hammond’s “Can’t We Smile.” 14: Soldier 15: Time’s A Wastin’Ī highlight from her second album, Mama’s Gun, “Time’s A Wastin’” fuses funky bass lines with lush strings and playful keyboard interjections to underscore Badu’s cautionary tale to a young black man.

Released in 2003 as a supposed EP that was actually longer than most artists’ full-length albums, Worldwide Underground’s immaculately executed analog grooves were exemplified by the deep basslines, dreamy keyboard runs and exquisitely funky guitars of this single – a nostalgic ode to youthful days spent smoking weed with friends.

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