I spent over 8 hours at a rap concert yesterday. Yeah, I was at Rock The Bells. The lineup was sometin fierce. Tribe, De La, Red & Meth, Rae & Ghost, Nas, Mos….there were a couple other groups, but that was about enough for me. I think I unconsciously listed the acts in the order of the degree to which they ripped the stage. For a serious hip hop head, I DEFINITELY recommend a ticket. But a couple of random notes:
After about a month of thought, reflection, and study, I’m still riding for Rakim. Don’t get me wrong, Kane’s my man and all that, but Rakim really is just a cut above. At the same time, I don’t think it can be denied that a big part of why everybody is so SURE Ra is the best is that he just has the aura. I mean, seriously. Jay-Z can call himself Hova and all that, but if you’re talkin about emcees and somebody says, “The God,” you KNOW who it is, and it ain’t Shawn Carter.
I can’t necessarily vouch for them in other media, like TV and movies, but Red and Meth on stage? Fire. Literally a dynamic duo. They’re the type of act that makes you feel like you really got your money’s worth if got flossy and sprung for tickets down front. Same thing goes for De La. Of all the times I’ve seen De La, I’ve NEVER seen them come weak. Never. Likewise with Tribe. The difference is that De La doesn’t really have the popular songs that Tribe does. I mean, I can’t even front. Back in 93, I rode hard for Tribe, but I wasn’t really checkin for De La too tough. It wasn’t until Stakes Is High that I got enlightened and started to recognize. (And literally kicked myself for not buying Buhloone Mindstate earlier.) All that’s to say that it’s easier for the crowd to get hyped off Tribe because more people are more familiar with their songs. De La, on the other hand, Pos in particular, are just very good performers. Period.
Breath control. Breath control. Breath control. If live shows were a factor in how emcees are evaluated, Black Thought would have to be in everybody’s top 10. Like I said, I liked most of what I saw out there yesterday, but ain’t nobody really seein’ Tariq Trotter on the stage. I mean, if you really break it down, ain’t too many people really seein’ Tariq Trotter, period. The Roots didn’t play Rock The Bells yesterday, but check out Thought covering Kool G Rap’s “Men At Work.” That’s a tough rap to recite in the car ridin’ down the road, let alone at a concert.
Breath. Control.
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