Kansas City was well represented in Lawrence -- I spotted rappers Stik Figa (OK, he's from Topeka, but still), Lou Rip, and Smoov Confusion in the crowd. DJ Ak was there, plus local b-boys like Leo and Brent (pictured, in the Chiefs shirt).
A pre-show mashup of T.I. and Mac Lethal's "Pound That Beer" made for a perfect segue into Steddy P's opening set. Wearing an Approach t-shirt, Steddy P took the stage and recalled another monumental Granada show from back in 2006, when Joe Good opened and KRS-One rocked the house. "I've waited my whole life for this," Steddy P said, before launching headfirst into his solid set backed by St. Louis' DJ Mahf. The beats were dark, the lyrics darker: "In my room upstairs/ Nobody cares/ and everything's painted by Banksy," he chanted in the chorus from a song off Dear Columbia, P.S.
(Jump for more!)
Then the headliners sauntered in, Hi-Tek repping his hometown with a Cincinnati Reds hat and Kweli in jeans, a green DC hat,
a silver jacket and sunglasses. The MC quickly lost the latter two accessories and kicked off the set with a new song. In it, Kweli dropped CNN-style
current events ("they got the bomb in North Korea") with egocentric
swagger ("Reflection Eternal...haven't heard of 'em? Google it, go find
it, lazy motherfucker"), all in his classically speedy, nice-with-it
delivery. Not for nothing, Kweli helped usher in an era of MCs who
"think before we spit."
Hi-Tek and Kweli reeled the show back into familiar territory with Train of Thought's
"Move Something," "Eternalists," and one of my favorites, "Too Late,"
which asks, "Where were you the day hip-hop died?" Kweli's lyrics are
deceptive -- they don't seem so fast until you get dizzy trying to rap
along.
"If you're drinking, be sure to tip your bartenders," Kweli told he crowd after a quick interlude in
which he and his DJ switched roles and Hi-Tek tried out the mic. "Last time I came to Kansas, they tried to arrest me. So if you're
smoking, keep it low."
New songs tend to get a lukewarm
reception when a crowd comes expecting old favorites. People
cheered in recognition to lines from classics like "Africa Dreams" ("If
you can talk, you can sing; if you can walk, you can dance"). So it's really saying something that even
Reflection Eternal's new joints, as street-smart as they are political,
still got this crowd hype. People gasped appreciatively when Kweli closed out
16 bars with, "Don't know why they acting like Barack is gonna save us."
Kweli and Hi-Tek rushed full-speed through more of Train of Thought's
track list with "Memories Live," and "Love Language." They dropped
Madlib-produced "Over the Counter," which contains one of my favorite
lines: 'Liberation' ain't the hottest vinyl pressing? Yeah right, and the government ain't lying 'bout 9/11.
The pair pretended to leave, then came back onstage with a
vengeance, performing "Respiration," minus Mos Def and Common. Hands
flew up at the first few notes of"Get 'Em High," off Kanye West's The College Dropout, but rather than performing his verse, Kweli freestyled, Don't need no pig, no swine flu/Just kickin' it with peoples representing KU, and proclaimed, "Yo -- this shit is tight like Michelle Obama's arms!"
A new song called "Back Again" contained the lyrics, No matter where you're from, I will always be in your corner/You can like rap again/ You can say that again. True to his word, Kweli got in the crowd's corner with a remix of the hit everyone was waiting for: "Get By," which brought down the house.
These
days, no hip-hop show ends without a J Dilla tribute, and Hi-Tek
attempted one, but the screwdrivers were kicking in, forcing him to "la
la la" his way through the first track. He finished up by Slum Village's
"Fall in Love," and "Raise it Up." Then, the afterparty really got started.
First
came the ladies, who clamored onstage to dance as the Wu Tang Clan
ordered, "Get the fuck up. Simon says get the fuck up." DJ Ak of
the Takeover Show took over on the mic. "I'm getting grinded on over
here," he said at one point. "These girls are grinding to everything."
The girls were, in fact, grinding on everything. A cluster of sweaty girls swayed uselessly next to Hi-Tek, guaranteeing their placement in thousands of fan photos.
"We dope as fuck," Hi-Tek proclaimed. "There's nothing that's changed with us."
(Author's note: this review might have been online bright and early this morning, like Joel Francis'. But while the heavy rains forced the Star's reviewer to hurry home, I stayed. Don't worry, Mr. Francis, I afterpartied for you!)
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Finally, Finally...I've been looking for this information for a long time. Thanks
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
here is a link to photos and video from the event.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/s...
Nadia - how do you constantly write quality material like this? haha, I would have been kickin' it way too hard to recall any of this...especially with such specificity. I missed the show..I feel like I went now.
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