WATCH THIS: Meta & The Cornerstones “Cornerstone”

Roots Rock Reggae Straight Outta Senegal By Way of Brooklyn

The realest video we’ve seen in a long while comes from Senegal-born Meta Dia and his BK-based ensemble The Cornerstones. Refreshing, upful, truthful in so many ways. But it’s not for the ADD generation. Got to give this one time… Formed in 2002, META and the Cornerstones plays a monthly gig at Tribeca’s 92nd Street Y. They’ve also gigged alongside Steel Pulse, Luciano, and Youssou N’Dour. Meta sings in English, French, and the Senegalese dialects Wolof and Fulani. This particular tune is sung in English, but the eloquence of the video is universally comprehensible. It’s all about the stifling heat of the apartment, the glazed gaze of Grandma watching her TV with a half-smile, Grandpa’s world-weary countenance, the little boy rolling his car back and forth on the carpet, and his father taking it all in, silently struggling to escape the generational cul-de-sac. So he grabs his work and hits the block, where undercovers and informers await. All those baller fantasies be damned. This is real “Everyday Struggle” that Biggie rapped about, delivered with diasporic daring. This video, and this group, are not be missed. (Nor should you miss the four-minute credit sequence at the end either!) Tune in…