​Grumpy old man?

I don’t want to sound like a grumpy old man. But sometimes the kids piss me off. Let me explain. This weekend I attended the Soundset Festival in the Twin Cities, put together by Rhymesayers Entertainment, a hip hop institution based in Minneapolis and basically run by its biggest artist, Atmosphere.

It’s pretty amazing what Rhymesayers has done in 20 years of existence. To establish Minnesota as a force in the world of hip hop is saying something. They have been consistently developing quality, diverse artists from all over the country now for over two decades, with a Midwestern emphasis. For nine years, they have run what has become the biggest festival in the country devoted solely to hip hop, Soundset, drawing over 30,000 fans with a mix of the young and new, old and legendary, all over the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

This year was my fourth time attending, as the festival moved from Canterbury Park in Shakopee, to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. I had a blast. The fair atmosphere, including ferris wheel, carnival games and regular state fair food, mixed well with the party vibe of the hip hop acts who all brought their A game to the stage. The move from the suburbs to the Twin Cities made it easier for people to travel to the festival from wherever they were staying or coming from in the metro area.

Standouts included Lizzo, the female MC from Minneapolis who has dance moves like no other and brought a rare female-empowering message to a hip hop crowd as well as Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals, featuring a sweaty pour-out-his-soul singer in Mr. Paak who also played the drums.

I was most looking forward to seeing the Roots, a live hip hop band who are the house band for Jimmy Fallon on NBC, and haven’t played Minneapolis since 2009. They feature a full horn section including tuba, bongos, organ, an amazing guitarist and of course the best-known member, the drummer Questlove. They were just as I’d imagined they would be, performing a nonstop medley of funky hits, covers, and jams, including an amazing Prince tribute from their percussionist, using a drum sampler. It should’ve been a sweaty dance party and it was for some of us on this very hot day.

But I don’t know if it was the long day in the heat or the fact that they were playing third to last ahead of Future and ASAP Rocky: the Soundset crowd did not give The Roots the reception they deserved. While they are not played constantly on the radio like those other two headliners, you’d think that actual musicians performing hip hop hits with instruments would be something that could be appreciated when done in such a incredible manner, even if it was songs they hadn’t heard before.

Future and ASAP Rocky drove the crowd into a frenzy, with thousands of hands in the air in unison on both main stages. The Roots barely managed to have people going buck in the audience right in front of the stage. I don’t get it. I’ve seen thousands of live performances and this was a quality that anyone should appreciate.

In previous years the same things happened to hip hop legends NAS and Cypress Hill, as the festival sandwiched them around newer radio-played favorites, 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa.

Soundset always has done a nice mix of the new chart-topping rappers alongside the old-school legends who paved the way, many of whom haven’t played Minnesota in years. It shouldn’t be surprising that the kids don’t recognize them, but shouldn’t they at least give them a chance or appreciate their performance? Perhaps I am naive.

It was funny because ASAP Rocky didn’t even have a visible DJ on stage performing his backing music tracks, while the Roots had around 10 people playing instruments on stage almost all the time. I am not saying every rapper has to have a live band backing them, but it sure would be nice if they didn’t perform live with a recorded backing track played by someone who just hit play backstage especially when they are the headliner.

It didn’t matter to the crowd, though. ASAP Rocky did have nice lights and video and a slew of hits the audience recognized. They got a hero’s welcome.

Maybe it was that hometown heroes Atmosphere played right before them. Whatever the reason, my only disappointment of the day was the way the crowd didn’t get into The Roots.

I don’t know if I am turning into my Dad or just old-school myself. My biggest musical influence was Nirvana. I got into them in high school and saw them live twice. It led me to punk rock and music promoting and the discovery of their influences.

Nirvana lifted those bands who’d helped get them there, like The Melvins, The Jesus Lizard and The Pixies, by wearing their t-shirts on Saturday Night Live and taking them on tour with them. And many like me kept digging further from there, discovering more punk music which changed our lives. I know a lot of new, large hip hop acts today pay homage to the past. The Roots got a shout out from ASAP Rocky on stage as well as Common.

I just hope those fans in the audience do what I did and dig a little deeper, discover their music and a whole world of what made the music they love today so popular. It just may change their lives too.