crackerjack
Well-known member
Anyone catch the Black Star/Rakim/De La Soul gig at the Hammersmith Apollo last week? I made the gig up here at the Academy in Manchester, but De La Soul got held up down south so never made it. Was just curious to know what anyone who saw them thought of their performance.
For my money Rakim was pretty good (his skill as an MC can't ever really be in question can it?), but seemed a little..unpractised..live? Maybe he's just getting on a bit. And talented though his DJ clearly was, he was no Eric B.
Black Star on the other hand were everything I was hoping for and more. They were energetic, very charismatic (Mos Def especially), and played a great range of songs..stuff off the Black Star album and new and old solo stuff from both of them. Great energy in the crowd too, especially for the call and response stuff. When the beat for Respiration dropped and the crowd went mental you'd have struggled to prise the ear-to-ear grin off my face!
Gutted to have missed out on De La Soul though. Some other time, hopefully.
I didn't go to the London one. I've seen all of them before – though Rakim so far back he was actually above Public Enemy on the bill – and De La are the only ones who didn't disappoint. Mos Def is a repeat culprit – I've seen buttocks less half-arsed than him – while Kweli is a tryer, but fundamentally unexciting.
edit: God I sound surly above. Glad they ripped it.
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