There is no minimizing the good Philadelphia’s Legendary Roots Crew has done in their time in the public eye as a Hip Hop based band. The Collective has produced critically acclaimed albums, had members produce legends such as Al Green, collaborated with idiosyncratic masters like Elvis Costello, backed great singers like John Legend, and spearheaded the Neo Soul movement through the Soulquarians collective. The Roots have shouldered a heavy burden, as Questlove is well aware, of being the most prominent black band in the world. This one band has taken over in public perception, for all the great bands of the past’s jazz, funk or soul. I imagine when a black kid plays drums now days, he might hear, “Go head Questlove”. The thing with this flag bearing is, they’ve done it while also operating in an area of Hip Hop music that can often be limiting, especially apres the Late ’80s Early ’90s “Golden Era.” Roots albums have often left me disappointed, because brilliant lyricism , crisp snares, and cozy grooves notwithstanding, they’ve rarely brought the thunderous funk the way they’re known to bring on stage. 2004’s cover of George Franz’s ’80s dance classic, “Din Daa Daa” changed all of that. This bonus track, buried at the tail end of their “Tipping Point” album, was a funky, imporvisatory “Dazz” (disco-jazz) track that finally unleashed Questlove’s drum kit with reverbed force.
George Kranz’s song “Din Daa Daa” was the soundtrack to a magical scene in the early Hip Hop dance movie “Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. Kranz scatted drum figures to himself as he unleashed drum solos in a duet format. Black Thought and Questlove do the same here to devestating effect, with Questlove conjuring up the force of jazz drummers like Elvin Jones and Art Blakey. The track was a bonus on the album, coming after a wacky rap song featuring Dave Chappelle.
The song begins with voices singing “Din Daa Daa” against voices singing the bassline for the song. A cowbell marks the time as the groove builds. Black Thought begins to scat his rhythmic phrases, reminding me of his fellow Philadelphian Bill Cosby’s drum based jazz scatting language. Questlove comes in, not playing the exact same phrases at first, but accenting them and playing around them. Quest snare drum features something rare for him, reverb! Questlove usually goes for a dry, spare community center sound that will not overpower M.C’s. He shows no such concern here as he unleashes thundering drum rolls that linger like a flare. Quest and Tarik (Black Thought) play off each other, talk to each other, one up one another, as well as support themselves through the first go round of the tune. Tariq escalates into orgies of mouth rhythms, rapping out millitary paraddidles and a Billy Stewart esque climax, with Quest ratcheting up the intensity until about 3:25, when the song hits it’s release. The release features a solid, crisp Neo-Philly drum beat and George Kranz’s brighter than bright, uplifting “Din Daa Daa” synthesizer tones. The song alternates between the long, funky, jazzy scat and drum sections and the bright dance funk of the chorus, until it hits a funky Neo Soul breakdown at the end. The song drops in tempo, and Questlove plays a funky beat thats a combo of a shuffle blues and his trademark ultra behind drumming style he once showcased with D’Angelo, Pino Palladino and Raphael Saddiq on D’s “Voodoo” album. This section is buried in underwater sounding, delayed keyboards. It sounds like stagehands taking down band equipment after a live show, or when the D.J puts on mid century pop ballads to clear the club at the end of the night. And so ends 9 of the most joyus minutes the Roots ever recorded.
This song was very important to me and my friends when it was released in 2004. It was inspiring for a top hip hop group like The Roots to release some improvisatory, live, jazzy instrumental funk like this. Beyond the industry aspects, it was also plain ol’ fun and a gas to groove to. We use to hit the hills in San Francisco with this song as the soundtrack to our journey. The groups trademark wit and intelligence is also at display in the song selection. They didn’t cover just any old instrumental, they covered an instrumental that is also related to the hip hop idiom, being featured in a magical dance scene in one of the early hip hop movies. That gave their audience some recognition, but they took it and flipped it like jazz or Afro-Latin dance pros on stage. I can also see the more joyus sound they introduced here as a segue to the Roots of the past decade or so, the musicians who play on The Tonight Show, collaborate with pop artists, and the Questlove that writes books about Soul Train. This record contains all those years of The Roots early live prowess on one cut. Bravo!
Andresmusictalk 