The Roots really went for it this year with the annual holiday jam session, also known as the OkayPlayer's Annual Holiday Party at Brooklyn's Brooklyn Bowl. It marked the fifteenth anniversary of the OkayPlayer website, which Questlove helped to found, and the show delivered by offering appearances from Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, beat-boxing mastermind Rhazel, and an unannounced appearance from Sufjan Stevens.
As Rolling Stone reported, the performances throughout the night took different turns with a healthy mix of diverse talent. There were appearances from comedians Hannibal Buress and Reggie Watts. The night took a different and more soothing turn with Stevens hit the stage, sharing his soft and pure vocals. Stevens is no stranger to celebrating the holiday's musically with his 2006 five-EP box-set Songs for Christmas.
Backed by the Roots he played the song "Holland," and then made sure to perform one of the holiday classic tunes, which he subtly alluded to: "I'll do one more and it's got 'holly,' 'jolly' and 'Christmas' in it. It's a sing-along."
After that things took on a whole different kind of vibe, and the audience went with it wholeheartedly, as RS reported. "It was the closing rap section of the show that resonated most with the crowd. Black Thought was first up, strutting around in his signature flat-cap during his performance of 'The Next Movement.' He then brought out Big Daddy Kane and the two of them ran through Kane's golden-era hits 'Just Rhyming With Biz, 'Set It Off' and 'Ain't No Half Steppin', with Black Thought acting as both amped-up hype man and savvy impromptu rap impersonator as he took on Biz Markie's role in the first song."
And then, the holiday celebration got an even more hype-worthy turn. "The night took a final twist before winding down when Raekwon rushed onstage. In tandem with Black Thought, the Wu-Tang staple ran through a trio of tracks from his classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... album: 'Incarcerated Scarfaces,' 'Ice Cream' and 'Guillotine (Swordz),' with the Roots MC taking up mic duties in place of Ghostface, Method Man and Inspectah Deck where needed."
Those who were fortunate enought to make it into the Brooklyn event got quite a handful of amazing performances last night.
