Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm" backed by a full brass band? Why, yes, please. If that brass band happens to be New Orleans' Soul Rebels, then it's a double whammy. Y'all know that the space where rap and live bands intersect is our home-base, so nothing connects on Okayplayer like a mixtape full of tracks like Drake's "Headlines" reworked into live brass arrangements. Nothing, that is, except the very same band bringing the very same MCs whose tracks they refixed out on stage to rock with them live, kinda like a Heavy Rhyme Experience on the march. That pretty much describes the scene that ensued when the Soul Rebels brought Prodigy of Mobb Deep out recently to unleash "Quiet Storm" on the crowd at Brooklyn Bowl, closely followed by Styles P delivering "I Get High." Nothing can teach a dick-blower how to speak the dun language like a full-on brass assault but the quieter, sparser rendition of the D-Block weed anthem may contain some even more revelatory moments. For instance: realizing how much hearing Just Blaze's chop and loop of the phrase "...high on the memories / high on the memories..." transposed into a horn line reminds me of one of my favorite Hypnotic Brass Ensemble compositions (maybe it's "Tarik"..?). Anyway, this is how hip-hop is supposed to be played...with a full horn section on the backative just like "Bob Marley did / Back in the '70s." Press play below to enjoy this OKP video exclusive:
