The Soul Rebels Rock w/ Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim + More Live At Brooklyn Bowl(s) [Photo + Video Recap]
The Soul Rebels Rock w/ Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim + More Live At Brooklyn Bowl(s) [Photo + Video Recap]

The Soul Rebels Rock w/ Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim + More Live At Brooklyn Bowl(s) [Video + Recap]

Black Thought live with The Soul Rebels, photo: Jeremy Smith

As it was foretold, NOLA brass ambassadors The Soul Rebels rocked a 3-night stand at Brooklyn Bowl recently, backing a veritable pantheon of rap divinities, including DJ Afrika Bambaataa (on the 1200s) Pharoahe Monch our own Black Thought and of course the original God MC Rakim. If that weren't enough, horn-ed god Roy Hargove capped the mini-residency with a tribute to the music of D'Angelo and Marvin Gaye on the last night. After a brief hiatus to collect our skull-tops from Brooklyn Bowl's lost & found, we're happy share with you some impressions of the night. OKP's Cali Green shares her first impressions below:

Night 1 of the Soul Rebels 3-night run at Brooklyn Bowl was everything we said it'd be and more. The legendary Afrika Bambaataa started the night with a DJ set for the ages before The Rebels kicked the brass band revelry into high gear. Special guest Pharoahe Monch came out to perform "Bad Motherfucker" from PTSD and reminded everyone just how truly bad-meaning-dope a live performer he truly is. Next up was "Simon Says," and we will neither confirm nor deny whether the girls in the audience did as instructed. Following Monch was none other than our Top 5, Black Thought. Fun fact: The Rebels had never met or performed with Thought before that night. As a testament to the professionalism of both parties, both songs they performed together set Brooklyn Bowl on fire with the energy of a well-rehearsed set as the hot-hot-music of "The Next Movement" and "You Got Me" brought down the house.

Watch live video of those three jams below and stay tuned for more...as Lumar Leblanc, snare drummer and Soul Rebels co-founder said of their work with Rakim:

"There are no words to describe what it was like to spend time and perform with the legendary Rakim. Literally speechless. We all grew up on Rakim...for us, he's the source. He wrote the book. The original. Working with Rakim was a life long dream. I still can't believe how organic it felt, like magic. Watch out for more collaborations between us and Rakim. We're already talking."

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