Beats that defy boxes

Reggie Watts’ beats defy boxes. Unplug your logic board and watch as he blends poetry and crosses musical genres in this larger-than-life performance.

(Non English)

(French) Mais Des fois on peut voir
parce Que Les gens

ici faire Des choses on peut manger.

(French) Mais quand
tu es fâché avec quelqu'un

c'est pas passé the first time.

(British English) And that's one
of the things that I enjoy most

about this convention.

It's not so much, as so little
has to do with what everything is.

(Laughter)

But it is within our self-interest

to understand the topography of our lives

unto ourselves.

(Laughter)

The future states that there is no time

other than the collapsation
of that sensation

of the mirror of the memories
in which we are living.

(Laughter)

Common knowledge,

but important nonetheless.

(Laughter)

As we face fear in these times,

and fear is all around us,

we also have anti-fear.

It's hard to imagine or measure.

The background radiation
is simply too static

to be able to be seen
under the normal spectral analysis.

(American accent) But we feel
as though there are times

when a lot of us --
you know what I'm saying?

But -- you know what I'm saying?

Because, as a hip hop thing,
you know what I'm saying,

TED be rocking --
you know what I'm saying.

Like so I wrote a song,

and I hope you guys dig it.

It's a song about people

and sasquatches --

(Laughter)

And other French science stuff.

That's French science.

Okay, here we go.

(Singing) I've been trying inside

I know that I'm in trouble

(Applause)

that I'm in trouble

by myself

But every time it gets me

(Vocalization)

(Beatbox)

(Singing) And I've been trying
to be the one that you believe in

And you're the one
that I want to be so saucy

And you're the one
I want to [unclear], baby

And you can do anything

as long as you don't get hurt
along the way back

(Beatbox)

If I survive, I'm going
to tell you what is wrong

Because if you were [unclear]

And I think that you're looking
like a [unclear]

I give you what I want to be

(Music)

(Music ends abruptly)

(British accent) And it's like,

you could use as many
of those things that you want.

(Applause)

And the computer models,

no matter how many that you have

and how many people that you use,

are never going to be able to arrive
at the same conclusions.

Four years ago I worked with a few people
at the Brookings Institute,

and I arrived at a conclusion.

(Laughter)

Tomorrow is another day.

(Laughter)

Not just any day,

but it is a day.

It will get here, there's no question.

And the important thing to remember

is that this simulation is a good one.

It's believable, it's tactile.

You can reach out -- things are solid.

You can move objects
from one area to another.

You can feel your body.

You can say, "I'd like to go over
to this location,"

and you can move this mass
of molecules through the air

over to another location, at will.

(Laughter)

That's something
you live inside of every day.

Now with the allocation
and the understanding

of the lack of understanding,

we enter into a new era of science

in which we feel nothing more

than so much so as to say

that those within themselves,

comporary or non-comporary,

will figuratively figure

into the folding of our non-understanding

and our partial understanding

to the networks
of which we all draw our source

and conclusions from.

(Laughter)

So, as I say before the last piece,

feel not as though
it is a sphere we live on,

rather an infinite plane
which has the illusion

of leading yourself
back to the point of origin.

(Laughter)

Once we understand
that all the spheres in the sky

are just large infinite planes,

it will be plain to see.

(Laughter)

(Audience) (Laughter)

This is my final piece.

And just remember,

everything you are --

it's more important to realize
the negative space,

as music is only the division of space;

it is the space
we are listening to divided as such,

which gives us the information
in comparison to something other

that gives us the idea of what the idea
that wants to be transmitted

wants to be.

So please, without further ado.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

This is a fun one.

It goes like this.

(Beatbox)

(Gibberish)

(Music ends)

Okay, for the last piece I'd like to do,

this one goes very similar to this.

I hope you guys recognize it.

Here we go.

Okay, that still works. Okay, good.

All right, here we go.

(Laughter)

(Beatbox)

Here we go.

(Beatbox)

Yeah, yo, yo, yo

(Gibberish)

(Music fades out)

Thank you. Enjoy the rest.

(Applause)