Roots, Mos Def Rap for Rhinos

High-minded hip-hoppers the Roots and De La Soul teamed to support their horned friends in New York's Central Park on Tuesday night, headlining designer Marc Ecko's sold-out Save the Rhinos benefit concert. The event raised $150,000 to preserve the endangered animal.

"When you see an unhealthy rhino population in the world you're bound to see an unhealthy human population," Ecko told Rolling Stone of the event's inspiration. "The things that are going to affect us ten to twenty years down the line are happening now, and this is one little sliver of that."

After veteran hardcore collective the Boot Camp Clik and masked underground rapper MF Doom got the hot summer night started, De La Soul -- Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo on the turntables -- turned in a star-studded, career-spanning set, featuring everything from 1989's "Potholes in My Lawn" to last year's "Grind Date." During "Stakes Is High," fellow New Yorker Mos Def stormed the stage to join in. "This, this is why I'm here: hip-hop," he said, before making his surprise appearance.

The De La Soul party didn't end there, as Brand Nubian's Sadat X took the mike to perform his group's "Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down," and Black Sheep got things jumping with his "The Choice Is Yours" and "Flavor of the Month."

With the crowd thoroughly riled up, the Roots opened their set by paying tribute to Ray Charles, launching into his "What I'd Say," before serving up their own favorites like "Proceed," "Step Into the Realm" and "Don't Say Nothin'." However, fans hoping to get a sneak peak of the Philly group's Game Theory album, due next winter, would not be so lucky.

"They'll have to wait to February," said drummer ?uestlove. "Fans who know the Roots know that we switch our steeze up every album."

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter