I am, as some would say, a music junkie.

I roam the streets of New York City searching for that new piff to get me through the day because quite frankly, the watered down, government cheese version on the radio does not satisfy my fix at all. So I roam.

On Friday, May 19th 2006, I wandered into Radio City Music Hall. Ok, I didn't quite wander into it. I had bought my ticket well in advance like a good junkie. In fact, I had bought two tickets, but my fellow junkie-in-crime decided to quit her full time job to become a writer. In layman’s terms, she wasn’t gonna pay me back. So I ended up selling the other ticket to an Australian- now Brooklyn- folk singer who's number one dream in life was to see Erykah Badu live. We made our “exchange” on the corner of 72nd and Broadway.

The concert was a J Dilla Benefit concert put on by The Roots and their friends. The ordeal was split into two nights - Thursday and Friday night with each night having specific listed guests as well as some "rabbits from the hat". Thursday's listed guests were Nas, Talib Kweli, and Common. Friday's listed guests were Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Angelique Kidjo, and J*Davey. I ended up choosing Friday because I wanted to see Jack Davey's legs (Jack is the girl. Brook is the man.) in real time.

Thursday’s show was plagued by no shows and sound problems. Questlove, drummer of the Roots and organizer, noted on his blog that they had to improvise parts of the show and ended up only doing a 1:30 minute show.

Friday’s show was bound to be better. The show roared into the full capacity Radio City Music Hall with The Roots crew marching in through the aisles while Black Thought delivered the lyrics to “BOOM!!!” via megaphone. The Australian-now Brooklyn- folk singer and I were jumping up and down like pure junkies or simply, people with far right 9th row seats. Once The Roots got on stage, they jumped right into some more cuts including "Star", which is perhaps one of their finest records in their catalogue.

Angelique Kidjo, a French based Beninese singer, jumped on stage next and while her set was short, her energy was contagious as most people remained standing and partying.

Mos Def, one of the planned guests, got on stage next and brought the crowd to its feet to amazing renditions of "The Boogie Man Song", "Ms. Fat Booty", and "Universal Magnetic", and "Umi Says". During "Umi Says", he went into the aisles and slapped hands with people. This made a concert of this size and magnitude feel so intimate. Needless to say, Mos Def made the thousands of junkies in attendance twitch.

The first surprise guests were Slum Village. They came out to the J Dilla produced "Raise it Up", from the hip hop aficionado classic "Fantastic: Vol 2". This cut had the cats in the know on their feet and the pseudo hip-hop fans wondering when they were going to perform "Tainted". Their time on stage was short but they represented the life of Dilla and the D with much energy. They ended their set with Mos Def singing the hook to "Selfish". Dope!

J*Davey was next. I have a special interest in this group. Yes, it is true - I have a love affair with Jack Davey's legs. But, their music is what really keeps me interested. I discovered their music on Okayplayer and have been hooked every since. Their sound is like the student in your class who smokes weed and has questionable sex behind the schoolhouse after-hours and still maintains a 4.0 grade point average. Or something like that. The majority of the New York City crowd did not seem to have any knowledge of them though. Even though, Jack Davey came on stage with a huge Indian feather headdress and umm, little of anything else, most people in the audience took a seat. They did two songs and quickly exited. J*Davey will one day have everyone standing. They are bonafied dope.

Dave Chappelle, another surprise guest, ushered in the second half of the show with a long winded, somewhat funny story about the mirroring of pimping and our corporate structure. Bilal, another surprise guest, covered Radiohead's "Everything in it's Right's Place" and did an amazing rendition of "Sometimes" from his fantastic album, "1st Born Second". Erykah Badu, however, stole the show by absolutely murdering her set. Badu's voice is like an invitation to something sweet, powerful, and warm all over. She has a mesmerizing style that has one hanging off her every word from her small frame. Her performance of "Next Lifetime", by itself, would have made the price of admission. I was scratching my neck like a true fiend. My new Australian now Brooklyn friend was in complete awe as well. We were indeed hooked to what Badu was cooking. The Roots jumped on board at the end of her set to do another classic rendition of "You Got Me" with Erykah singing the hook.

The show is over. Or so Black Thought said. All the junkies in the crowd were begging for more, standing on their toes, speaking in tongues. And then magic happened. A man in a gray hoodie and aviator glasses walked, almost tiptoed, on stage. Once the hoodie fell of his head, the sold out crowd at Radio City Music Hall collectively had an orgasm. The opening chords of "PSA" rang out and the President of Def Jam tore the building down. It's only fitting. Like Russell Simmons closes Def Poetry with his patented 'Good night and God bless", Hov closed a spectacular evening by blessing us with a 4 minute display of what he does best. And the junkies in the crowd were in the crowd desperately trying to snap pictures and trying to phone anyone they could to tell them what they just had witnessed.

When the night was over, the building was still electric. People weren't even speaking whole sentences to each other but everything made sense. Everyone was speaking the same language. We had all witnessed a once and a lifetime performance in the greatest city in the world. I hugged the Australian-now Brooklyn- folk singer and we straggled back onto the street going our separate ways, satisfied.

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