2013-07-25

What's happening fellas (and ladies)! It's been TOO LONG since I've been on here (I really miss this site... sorry... totally forgot about it when my computer crashed years ago, with all my bookmarks), and what reminded me of it again, was the show I went to the other night, in my old neighborhood, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn... and how I would use to write about all the different experiences and topics on anything Old School, and/or Golden Age (my favorite time in Hip-Hop).

On the bill were definitely some of my faves: Whodini, Chubb Rock, the GOD MC, Rakim, and in my opinion... the G.O.A.T., Big Daddy Kane! It was such a fantastic show, even though it rained through about 90% of it. Brooklyn, NYC, and beyond were STILL out there in FULL FORCE, for a great night.

Here's a quick (not really, but I like to say that with my detail oriented self) rundown of how it went:

Chubb Rock opened up... hyped up the crowd with some ol' school songs, hip-hop and soul... then he brought out some special guests to do a verse (pretty much) off of their hits, respectively. First up was, Joeski Love 'Pee Wee's Dance', then out came Dana Dane 'Nightmares', followed by Sadat X 'Slow Down', and lastly, Kwame 'The Rhythm'. Chubb then did some of his well known joints, 'Just the Two of Us', 'The Chubbster' and closed it out with... of course... 'Treat 'Em Right'. His flow is still great, no shortness of breath for that speedy jam!

Next up was, Whodini! They were all awesome! Grandmaster Dee, cuttin' it up on the 1's & 2's like he was 20 all over again. Breaking into 'Funky Beat'. They were all very energetic, as they blew through all their hits 'Friends', 'One Love', 'Freaks Come Out At Night'. Dee rapped a whole verse as well. Even had Doctor Ice from U.T.F.O. doing a verse off 'Roxanne, Roxanne' and then a pretty cool freestyle... before they came back to the front to finish it off with 'Five Minutes of Funk'. Great energy from the band... they put these young bucks out nowadays, to shame!

3rd act up was (and for me, this was the FIRST time I've ever seen him live, so I really wanted to know what his stage show was like besides what I've seen on youtube or what I've read online about his performances). But yes... the Godbody MC, Rakim Allah, hit the stage. His presence alone is quite amazing. He did most of his hits 'I Ain't No Joke', 'Move The Crowd', 'Juice (Know The Ledge)', 'What's On Your Mind', 'Don't Sweat The Technique', 'My Melody' (which, the bass on that, was just THUMPING, that you would've thought you were hearing the thunder above, 'cause of the rain). He then brought out Marley Marl, to a nice ovation from the crowd. Marley produced the next song (debatable, depending who you ask) on the set list 'Eric B. is President' (always a favorite). Funny to hear him rhyme... "Eric B. "Ain't" on the cut, and my name is Rakim" though. Even if they're cool nowadays, he does make a good point... it was obviously another DJ 'on the cut'.
Then, I was so glad to hear him do 'In The Ghetto' (one of my favorite songs of his... just pure poetry). He proceeded to bring out Roxanne Shante, for a quick shout out. She still has her lil' squeaky, cute voice! The Godfather of Hip-Hop, Kool Herc comes out, for an acknowledgment. Very happy to see people cheer loudly, as we all know, if it weren't for him, there is none of this beautiful music and I probably wouldn't be typing all of this, and us talking about anything.
Then Ra said it was almost time for him to go, so his DJ spun out 'For the Love of Money" by The O'Jay's, which then broke into, his final song of the set, 'Paid in Full', and that was it. He was commanding the crowd, as only a God MC can do... it felt like a park karaoke jam... people (including myself) who knew most of his joints, word for word... it was such a treat and honor to finally see him live. DJ teased us with 'Microphone Fiend', but then cut it off, because of times constraints, to a lot of "Awww man's" in the crowd.
He still has that remarkable flow and ease to his words. However, he does let the crowd rhyme to a lot of his verses while he takes a pause to hear them or maybe, rather, just save his breath... not really sure? Still, one can always argue that Rakim is the greatest of all-time... and he's in my top three... so... to each their own. All praise due to Allah, that is... the R!

And last, but certainly, not least... was the closer of the night, and rightfully so, because we were in OUR hometown... BK... the only and only, Dark Gable aka Blackanova aka Count Macula, Big Daddy Kane!
Now I've seen Kane, almost every time he's in the NYC area, for I don't know (the last 10 years) and as I mentioned earlier, I feel he's the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all-time), but beyond so many other things about him, it's also because he's the epitome of a REAL MC, on the stage/mic... so for me, I know how his shows go, meaning: his usual set list, the slick, certain things he says during his show to the crowd, since he has a penchant for hearing what they have to say to him and so he humorously returns the favor, the 'freestyle' raps he busts out with, the jumping into the crowd part, where he rhymes a verse and walks through a sea of people, the closing song/dance routine with Scoob & Sean (not Scrap) Lover at the very end, etc... and yet... I say this... it's STILL fresh to death, and never gets old, tired or boring. He's the showman of all showmen, on the stage, for our music... our love of everything REAL, in Hip-Hop!
Anyway... enough of my babbling... he starts off with 'Nuff Respect' (from the movie 'Juice'), the rapid fire raps in that tongue-twisting song, is still very well in place! 'Set It Off' continues the fast pace rhymes, delivered flawlessly. 'Smooth Operator', which in the second verse, midway, the break switches to Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' (because obviously, he has a bar in it, which refers to the classic song. 'I Get The Job Done' for a little, Teddy Riley, New Jack Swing throwback. He then breaks out into a 'freestyle' over Jamie Foxx's 'Unpredictable' break. Flow is impeccable, again... rapid fire freshness of a rhyme, where then, the beat goes off towards the end, and it's Speedy Gonzalez type syllabic, rhymes galore, acapella, to the loud roar of the crowd, in amazement! I always like looking at the younger generation during his 'freestyles', because their jaws are usually to the floor, and furthermore, they're not witnesses to anything like this, in their current love of 'mainstream' hip-hop. I'm not bitter, by any means, just keepin' it real.
Kane goes through 'Wrath of Kane', 'Raw', his verse off of 'Just Rhymin' With Biz', then a lil' old school homage to Sugarhill Gang & Doug E. Fresh/Slick Rick, before breaking into another one of his own classics, 'Ain't No Half Steppin'. After those, he then motions to people backstage, or to the side... out comes Marley Marl again, says a few words, then continues on with "I don't care who's first or who's last, but I know that y'all just better rock this at the drop of a dime baby"... Oh snap... it's 'The Symphony'... out comes Masta Ace, does his verse, next up, yo I believe that's me (well, not me but), Craig G... verse done... then... well... Kane does the final verse. No G. Rap again, meaning, Kane's had his former 'Juice Crew' brothers come out at his shows to perform this, but Kool G. Rap is nowhere to ever be found. I'm hoping one day he'll come out... still, it was GREAT to see/hear nonetheless.
'Warm It Up, Kane' is the finale, first to an opening dance routine, each by Sean Lover and Kane's longtime dancer (and part time rapper), Scoob Lover aka Johnny Famous... before all three get together for a small dance step routine, Kane spits through 'Warm It Up, Kane...' and at the end of the first verse, Sean and Scoob join Kane for another bunch of dance steps, complete with classic Kane lean back on Scoob (to catch him), thrown to Sean, for the boost and 180 degree, jump over him, and the double leg split landing, and finish. People were going BONKERS! Everybody say HOOOO (HOOOO), now scream (AHHHHHH)... the end.
Again... great show, and I just wanted to share with you all, the experience. Great to be back on here to discuss the love of Old School Hip-Hop, etc... in general.

PS - I got to FINALLY (after 25 years of being this dude's biggest fan) meet Big Daddy Kane after the show. We met in passing a few times, and a high five here and there at his shows, but with a little luck, and the power of social networking... it was my honor to get the hookup to meet my Rap Idol! Big thanks to Kane's manager, Saquan, and to Kane for the phone call a couple months back (which felt very down to earth, and I didn't have to go all "fan-ish" in the convo) and later on, after trading some tweets on twitter, that he appreciates the support and was down with the meet & greet that I inquired about. I took a few pics with him, Scoob and Sean, as well as Kane's brother, 'Little Daddy Shane'. I'll post them up later, if I still could (on here)?
Met Rakim too, albeit briefly... asked for a pic, he was like "No doubt baby, right after this" (he was in the middle of an interview, walking through the darkness, backstage area of the park, talking to some Danish dude with a tape recorder)
It was still weird to me that he was there -Rakim- because he was walking on the basketball court I used to 'run' with my peoples, for many years, during the mid 90's to mid 2000's... good times... but yeah, I can't believe this... but I forgot to go back and take a pic with him... besides the fact that he had a bunch of other people following him, after the Kane meet... I actually just left, happy, and then was like "Oh man... Ra"! Ha ha... oh well, there will be other times hopefully. Peace and blessings y'all!

Statistics: Posted by MPimpJuice — Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:56 am

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