Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star bring the noise to London

Source: echolot

Laaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwd, lawdamercy! Talib Kweli and, vegetarian bad *ss Yasiin Bey's, Black Star is coming to London this weekend and I can hardly contain myself. I've had classic tunes like 'Definition' and 'Brown Skin Lady' on rotation for the original Black Star album dropped back in 1998. Musically both have done amazing things a solo artists, but in Bey's journey through Islam, Hollywood, Broadway and political debate he's always kept it real. He's used his voice to push for more awareness on injustice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, racism in the American criminal justice system and forced feeding in Guantanamo Bay.

This level of activism is not unusual for hip hop's vegans and vegetarians - consciousness and plant based diets seem to go hand in hand. The Roots, Stic.Man of Deadprez, Russell Simmons, Saul Williams, KRS-One, Q-Tip, Andre 3000, RZA, GZA, and Masta Killa, all get down with beats and beets, as well as bringing righteousness to their lyrics and their communities.

Aside from being in the presence of such a right on MC, I am of course looking forward to the music.  So, for your listening pleasure, here's a little soundcloud playlist featuring some of the newer tracks, remixes and collabs from Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def.

Happy Birthday to Hip Hop Vegan, Andre 3000

Source PETA

 It's May 27, which means that Roots and Greens has the honour of celebrating the birthday one our favourite human beings and commited vegan, Mr. Andre 3000. Along with performing serious services to awesomeness with hip hop crew Outkast, Andre 3000 has dabbled in acting, activism, fashion, and music production. His commitment to the cause earned him a place as PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2004. For his birthday, I put on the Love Below and I've prepared a special Andre 3000 inspired vegan meal that even Ms. Jackson would like. Happy birthday Dre, I hope you like the Bombs over Butter bean Cassoulet with Idle -Wild Rice and Spinachplayalisticohsosimpesideofsalad as much as I did.

  Idle-Wild Rice

Wild rice needs a little bit more prep than most store bought rice. I used a Thai Glutinous Black Rice for this and it need to be soaked for a hour before I could put it in rice cooker - but it was worth the wait for the beautiful colour and nutty flavour of the rice. I'll be honest, though, I didn't find it that sticky!