The Soul Rebels Funk Up Brooklyn Bowl With Roy Hargrove & Rakim [Recap pt. II + Videos]

(Photo: Jeremy Smith)

Just in case you’ve been living under the most unfunky rock on Earth, Okayplayer is very happy to bring you a fresh round of live video from The Soul Rebels‘ complete takeover of New York City late last month. On the last true weekend of winter cold, the NOLA brass n winds ensemble brought the room at Brooklyn Bowl to a boil with three epic nights of music. Things got off on a historically good foot when Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch joined forces and fronted the The Soul Rebels like a supersized hip-hop-jazz band, and it only got groovier from there.

On the blowout weekend’s second night the legendary Rakim took over vocalist duties and ran through classic material, including the Eric B.-produced “Don’t Sweat the Technique.” The following evening–the entire run’s grand finale–saw Soulquarian trumpeter Roy Hargrove augmenting the Rebels’ wind power for a set of classic covers pulled from the catalogs of D’Angelo and Marvin Gaye. Okayplayer was there in full force, and to say we enjoyed ourselves would be the understatement of the season. Now, although the moment has passed, the videos will live on to tell the tale to future generations. Watch Rakim and The Soul Rebels perform “Don’t Sweat The Technique,” below, then scroll farther down to catch Roy Hargrove blowing on his original “Strasbourg St. Denise.” Finally, the highlight of the entire weekend awaits: the ensemble’s Hargrove-led turn through D’Angelo’s “Spanish Joint.” And if you haven’t already done so, watch videos and read a brief the weekend’s recap (part 1) here.