A GREAT NIGHT IN HIP-HOP
- 9 hours ago
- 7 min read
DE LA SOUL • NAS • THE ROOTS
Photos and Words by: Samantha Madnick and Rudy Flores
Gallagher Square — San Diego, CA | August 27, 2026
Every once in a while, a concert lineup comes along that makes you look at the ticket and think, “Well, damn…this is going to be a night.”
Thursday night at Gallagher Square was exactly that.
De La Soul. Nas. The Roots.
Three names that don't just belong in a conversation about hip-hop—they helped build the conversation. Three completely different styles, three different approaches to the music, and decades of influence between them. And somehow, packed into one night in downtown San Diego, it all came together into "A Great Night In Hip-Hop".
Gallagher Square was buzzing before the music even really got going. There was that particular energy you get when the crowd knows they're about to see something special. You had longtime hip-hop heads standing next to younger fans who weren't even alive when some of these records first dropped. But once the music started, none of that mattered. Everybody was there for the same reason:
Good fucking music.
De La Soul was the perfect way to kick things off. Their whole vibe is different. It's funky. It's playful. It's intelligent. It's weird in the best possible way. And that's exactly what makes De La Soul, well…De La Soul.
They didn't feel like a legacy act going through the motions. They felt alive.
And when they dropped “Oooh.”, that place absolutely lost its shit. Originally released in 2000 as the lead single from Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, the Redman-assisted track still has that ability to instantly flip a crowd into party mode.
Then came “Me Myself and I.”
Holy shit.
A song from 1989's 3 Feet High and Rising that has somehow managed to survive more than three decades without losing an ounce of its magic. The second those opening sounds hit, the crowd went absolutely nuts. That was one of those moments where you look around and realize just how powerful music can be. People who probably first heard that song on a cassette tape were standing next to people hearing it live for the first time—and everybody knew exactly what to do.
But there was also an undeniable bittersweetness hanging over De La Soul's performance...
The group we saw Thursday night isn't quite the same trio that helped change hip-hop forever. We lost David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur in 2023, and there is simply no replacing a member of a group who helped create its identity.
So last night wasn't just about celebrating De La Soul. It was about remembering Dave.
At one point, the crowd had the opportunity to give back to the man whose voice, personality, humor and creativity helped make these songs what they are. We collectively said “THANK YOU” to Plug 2—to Trugoy the Dove. And hearing an entire crowd pay homage to someone who couldn't be standing there with his brothers anymore…yeah. That hit differently.
The beautiful thing is that Dave's presence is still there. It's in the records. It's in the lyrics. It's in the laughs. It's in the way people react when one of those classic songs start. And De La Soul has continued carrying that spirit forward. Their latest album, Cabin in the Sky, released in 2025, was created in the shadow of Dave's passing and includes previously recorded contributions from him.
Suffice it to say...
Dave wasn't forgotten. Not even close.
Then The Roots came out.
And before Nas even touched the stage, The Roots decided to remind everybody exactly who the fuck they were.
Rather than simply walking out and waiting for the headliner, they gave us what felt like a Roots mini-concert before the Nas set even started.
“Proceed.”
“The Next Movement.”
“Here I Come.”
“Gimme Some More.”
It was basically The Roots saying, “Oh, you thought we were just here to back Nas tonight? Nah. Sit down. We got some shit to show you.”
And then Nas walked out.
NAS.
That's really all I need to say. The first song of his set? “Hate Me Now.” Yeah. They definitely weren't messing around.
From there, Nas and The Roots ripped through an absolutely ridiculous collection of classics—“N.Y. State of Mind,” “One Mic,” “The Boss,” “Made You Look,” “Oochie Wally” and more—before eventually bringing the whole thing home with “If I Ruled the World.”
Now, hearing Nas deliver those songs live is one thing, but hearing him deliver them with The Roots behind him is something else entirely!
These are songs I've heard countless times through speakers, headphones, car stereos, etc, but standing in Gallagher Square with a few thousand people screaming the words back at Nas while The Roots turned those familiar tracks into living, breathing music was something completely different. You didn't just hear the history. You felt it.=
Nas doesn't need to prove anything anymore. The catalog speaks for itself. But watching him tear through those songs made one thing painfully obvious:
The man still has it.
AND THEN THE ROOTS SAID, “WE'RE NOT DONE YET.”
Most bands would have walked off after backing one of the dopest rappers alive.
The Roots?
Nope.
They stayed right the hell where they were and proceeded to remind everybody that they are one of the greatest live bands on the planet.
We got “Hustla.”
We got a killer cover of “Get Up, Stand Up.”
We got “The Seed 2.0.”
And then came “You Got Me.”
This is where shit got ridiculous, because somewhere in the middle of that performance, guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas decided San Diego hadn't been sufficiently blown away yet...
So he went to work!
When Captain Kirk started ripping into that guitar solo, Gallagher Square collectively lost its damn mind! That wasn't a guitar solo. That was a face-melting, soul-leaving-your-body, “WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING?” kind of guitar solo.
And I wasn't the only one losing my shit.
Our main photographer—and the owner of this publication—Samantha Madnick was standing there watching Captain Kirk absolutely destroy that guitar, and the stunned look on her face said everything. You know when somebody does something so good that you don't even have words for it? Yeah. That.
And, this is where I'm going to hand the pen/keyboard over to Sam, because I think her experience seeing The Roots do what The Roots do deserves to be told in her own words.
SAMANTHA MADNICK — FROM BEHIND THE LENS
"I usually leave the writing to Rudy and stick to what I know best—photographing the shows—but for this show I got to experience The Roots as a spectator and it was AWEOME! Since this was my first time seeing The Roots, Nas, and De La Soul live, Rudy asked me to add a little something of my own to his review. And honestly, I was completely in awe! Rudy has seen The Roots three times before, but I don't think I was fully prepared for just how much they were going to blow my mind.
I always knew The Roots were incredibly talented, but seeing them perform live was on a completely different level. They are so much more than just a rap or hip-hop group. Their sound moves effortlessly through hip-hop, rock, jazz, blues, and seemingly everything in between, and watching all of those influences come together on one stage was amazing. Black Thought's rapping was absolutely incredible, Questlove's drumming was amazing to witness firsthand, and Captain Kirk completely had me mesmerized. His extended guitar solo felt like a masterclass in just how versatile a musician can be, moving through different sounds and genres so effortlessly that I found myself just standing there wondering how one person could do all of that.
The entire band was just on another level. Between the musicianship, the energy, the personalities on stage, and of course, Tuba Gooding Jr., the tuba player, running around with a full-on tuba was insane! I found myself watching everything with what I'msure was a competition stunned look on my face. Every person brought something special to the performance, and together they created something that felt bigger than simply watching a concert. It was artistry. It was musicianship. It was pure talent. As someone seeing The Roots for the very first time, I completely understood why Rudy has gone back to see them three different times. I walked away completely blown away and with a whole new appreciation for just how incredible they are as live performers."
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