Word: albums
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Married to stage actress Allyson Tucker, Mitchell, 42, is working on his first solo album (which he's producing and marketing himself) and thanking the fates for treating him so well. "So many things in my life, I look at them and see a pattern," he says. "I was born on Halloween--a day when people put on costumes and pretend to be other people. What a perfect day for an actor to be born!" And Kiss Me, Kate is a perfect way for us to celebrate...
...group thrives on spontaneity, sometimes inviting audience members onstage to join in freestyle raps. Such improv energy fuels the new album, and the songs take unexpected twists and turns. Thompson's playing is particularly sharp; he's confident enough to play loose. "One of our fears going in was, 'This is a live album; we can't use studio trickery!'" says Thompson. "But in the end, the songs with mistakes and flaws were the ones that touched us the most, and those are the ones we ended up using." The rough edges give this CD a fresh, honest feel...
...just because of the message--the members are fierce champions of artistic expression--but precisely because of the music. This is not just the best band in hip-hop, it's also one of the best bands in rap or rock, and the group's new concert album, The Roots Come Alive (MCA), proves...
...hand, rappers want to keep their music true to life. On the other, boasting and roasting are also part of the tradition. Lately, exaggeration has ruled. It's often hard to find real experience in the cartoonish raps of many gangsta rappers. Q-Tip, on his new album, Amplified (Arista), brings back the honesty--but doesn't cut back on the fun. This is a party album about picking up chicks (Vivrant Thing), cruising the streets (Let's Ride) and dancing in clubs (Breathe & Stop). "I look at a track like a lady I'm about to get into...
...While most of the songs came from their recent Contino Sessions album, several of the sample-centric tracks of Dead Elvis were spruced up by live arrangements. The grinding, nasty groove of "Dirt" was transformed into an almost soulful rave-up with horns, and as with the other up-tempo selections, the band came off sounding like Booker T. and the MGs in the year 2100. The highlight of the evening was "Flying," off the Contino Sessions. Less psychedelic and more rhythmically insistent than the album version, the densely layered music spiraled seemingly endlessly into a gorgeous wall of sound...