The Roots Crew Give A Free Concert

The Roots Crew
Originally uploaded by Ramses 3rd.

Yeah -- just the other day at UCLA, the heart of paid, paid, paid kids from California. Not everyone who goes to that school is paid, but a high percentage is and they were the ones filling up the quad for the concert.

Not exactly the die-hard or even extra enthusiastic crowd -- hardly any Black people in the crowd, too.

The show was amazing. I had never seen The Roots in concert before, and damn! Do they put on a high powered show! They are all truly musically gifted, talented and know how to express their ideas with great ease.

I was particularly impressed by the medley of 70s and 80s music (they did a hella dope rendition of Jacko's Smooth Criminal) that they worked in near the end of their set. But the so-called crowd only "got down" when white boy anthems were played(i.e. a Nirvana song and a Metallica cut, I think). This I know irked the fuck out of The Roots, as they refused to give an encore.

Yeah, they did not drop one song or even hint at returning to the stage. When was the last time you saw? Probably never. I mean chump-ass, no-name bar bands do an encore. I chalked it up to their displeasure at the crowd.

I bet The Roots figured: it's a college, they'll be down as fuck for our music and what we represent. Yet, it was an odd example of how these white people who think they are hip act to a more-than-hip African American music experience.

Sure there are those whites, Asians, and Latinos who are definitely down, but not a crowd of over 500 at a bastion a faux-liberalism, uber-rich joint like UCLA. True, it is a public school in the uneven California secondary education system, but the cost to go to that school - just to live in LA as a student must be fucking draining on the wallet.

So when these guys are doing something to save cats some money, the WRONG group of students show up.

Man, what's next white people showing up at the UCLA Black Wednesday events?