As musical director for Jay-Z’s Radio City Music Hall performance of his Reasonable Doubt album Sunday, Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the Roots has concerns that the retired rapper may need to brush up on some of his lyrics, considering the words are all 10 years old.
"Unless you do [the songs] night after night, there's a chance you could forget," Thompson told MTV. "In [Jay's] case, I'm suggesting — I've seen Springsteen do it, R.E.M. do it, Bowie do it — I'm suggesting that [there] be a teleprompter. There are too many words in '22 Two's' [and] 'Regrets.' Right now he's playing the album over and over again, learning words. He says he's gonna know everything.”
?uest says even the best artists forget their most classic lyrics. He adds: "Nas forgot 'The World Is Yours' [during our recent show at Radio City]. …I've been in jam sessions with Prince and we've started songs of his that were our life staples and he was like, 'I forgot those lyrics.' Me and D'Angelo played 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker' and [Prince] forgot the bridge. That's one of the greatest bridges in modern black music. How do you forget the bridge to 'Ballad of Dorothy Parker'? We did 'Liquid Swords' with GZA last week in L.A. and he was like, 'I only know the first verse.'"
Another concern is the song, "Ain’t No Nigga," a duet with Foxy Brown who is now suffering from severe hearing loss. Also, the song "Bring It On" features Jay-Z's estranged friends Jaz-O and Sauce Money. Who will cover their verses?
"'Bring It On' [has] my favorite [DJ] Premier loop," Thompson told MTV, adding it’s the record he’s most looking forward to performing. "The problem is it's a posse cut. [Who knows what's going on with] Jaz-O and Sauce Money. I don't want to cut one verse of that song. That is my favorite song on ‘Reasonable Doubt.’ I gotta figure out a way to prolong it. Make [Jay] bust a second verse or something.”
For the Notorious B.I.G. duet "Brooklyn's Finest," Thompson says they'll have a "slight trick."
"This show, I will say that this is gonna be a challenge," he continued. "It's sort of like doing a magic trick when you have to destroy a building and [then] that building is demolished. You've got one shot. We're gonna do a very different approach. Yes, we're gonna do ‘Reasonable Doubt.’ But the question is, how are we gonna do it? I got my work cut out [for me]."
"Unless you do [the songs] night after night, there's a chance you could forget," Thompson told MTV. "In [Jay's] case, I'm suggesting — I've seen Springsteen do it, R.E.M. do it, Bowie do it — I'm suggesting that [there] be a teleprompter. There are too many words in '22 Two's' [and] 'Regrets.' Right now he's playing the album over and over again, learning words. He says he's gonna know everything.”
?uest says even the best artists forget their most classic lyrics. He adds: "Nas forgot 'The World Is Yours' [during our recent show at Radio City]. …I've been in jam sessions with Prince and we've started songs of his that were our life staples and he was like, 'I forgot those lyrics.' Me and D'Angelo played 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker' and [Prince] forgot the bridge. That's one of the greatest bridges in modern black music. How do you forget the bridge to 'Ballad of Dorothy Parker'? We did 'Liquid Swords' with GZA last week in L.A. and he was like, 'I only know the first verse.'"
Another concern is the song, "Ain’t No Nigga," a duet with Foxy Brown who is now suffering from severe hearing loss. Also, the song "Bring It On" features Jay-Z's estranged friends Jaz-O and Sauce Money. Who will cover their verses?
"'Bring It On' [has] my favorite [DJ] Premier loop," Thompson told MTV, adding it’s the record he’s most looking forward to performing. "The problem is it's a posse cut. [Who knows what's going on with] Jaz-O and Sauce Money. I don't want to cut one verse of that song. That is my favorite song on ‘Reasonable Doubt.’ I gotta figure out a way to prolong it. Make [Jay] bust a second verse or something.”
For the Notorious B.I.G. duet "Brooklyn's Finest," Thompson says they'll have a "slight trick."
"This show, I will say that this is gonna be a challenge," he continued. "It's sort of like doing a magic trick when you have to destroy a building and [then] that building is demolished. You've got one shot. We're gonna do a very different approach. Yes, we're gonna do ‘Reasonable Doubt.’ But the question is, how are we gonna do it? I got my work cut out [for me]."
