Old School Heroes
This was a post I started a while back, and never got to publish - the actual krs-one show concert was back in June or July, but rock the bells was at the end of July - time is going by waaaaay too fast people
I'm really into Hip Hop. Really. A couple of years ago when I went on a Hip Hop Tour of NYC with Grandmaster Raheim from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, I was the only one who knew the answer to the question "Who was the grandfather of hip hop?" *
Mind you, a lot of commercial hip hop that's around today really isn't my thing, and I find it difficult to find a good radio station here that plays a diverse range of music and not just current commercial hip hop - I'm missing Koori Radio like crazy. (Big shout out to all the crew - Brad, Naian, Donita)
So I was very excited the other night to get to see an old school hero of mine, KRS-One. Ever since I first heard KRS-One back in the day, I've always loved his ability to tell stories and to literally teach people about what they need to know. And he's still got it - the show was great - and it was upfront and personal in a small club in Brooklyn. Stuff like that never happens in Sydney... If I get 5 minutes this weekend, I'll try and put my video footage on You-tube and then link it here..
The other big event I went to after this was the Rock The Bells festival on Randalls Island. I had a great time, despite misplacing all my friends, and having to stand in a line for terrible food for 45 minutes while Cypress Hill were on.
I saw Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, The Roots, Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan and Rage Against the Machine. PE started off great. I was thinking to myself wow! They've really tightened up their game since I saw them back in Sydney in the mid-90's and Flav was so far gone on coke that they didn't finish a single song
And then it happened. Flava Flav has become a reality tv star and so clearly the idea was to cash in on some of that and have him talk a little bit and then do 911 is a joke. Except Flav doesn't know when to stop. He started off ok, then brought his kids out and made them individually say hey to New York. Then he started rambling, and Chuck D tried to move into the song, but Flav shut it down and kept talking and promoting his TV appearances.
What had started off as smiles and nods and appreciation from the crowd was starting to turn into embarrassed laughs and silences. Finally Flav did his song (which by the way was never one of their greatest anyway, IMHO). And finally when it was done, Flav insisted on showing off his drumming skills, which used up any more time that was available for more PE songs. Chuck D had walked off the stage, and didn't come back.
The Roots did one of the best sets I've ever seen them do - complete with a New Orleans Style brass band. It was fun and funky, and they were great! Unfortunately the rest of the crowd wasn't feeling it as much as I was...
Wu Tang had 50 guys on stage and only 3 of them seemed to do anything, but that's what they do. The whole time I couldn't help but think of the Skit from the Dave Chappelle Show.
* It's DJ Kool Herc for thos of you who don't know...
I'm really into Hip Hop. Really. A couple of years ago when I went on a Hip Hop Tour of NYC with Grandmaster Raheim from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, I was the only one who knew the answer to the question "Who was the grandfather of hip hop?" *
Mind you, a lot of commercial hip hop that's around today really isn't my thing, and I find it difficult to find a good radio station here that plays a diverse range of music and not just current commercial hip hop - I'm missing Koori Radio like crazy. (Big shout out to all the crew - Brad, Naian, Donita)
So I was very excited the other night to get to see an old school hero of mine, KRS-One. Ever since I first heard KRS-One back in the day, I've always loved his ability to tell stories and to literally teach people about what they need to know. And he's still got it - the show was great - and it was upfront and personal in a small club in Brooklyn. Stuff like that never happens in Sydney... If I get 5 minutes this weekend, I'll try and put my video footage on You-tube and then link it here..
The other big event I went to after this was the Rock The Bells festival on Randalls Island. I had a great time, despite misplacing all my friends, and having to stand in a line for terrible food for 45 minutes while Cypress Hill were on.
I saw Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, The Roots, Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan and Rage Against the Machine. PE started off great. I was thinking to myself wow! They've really tightened up their game since I saw them back in Sydney in the mid-90's and Flav was so far gone on coke that they didn't finish a single song
And then it happened. Flava Flav has become a reality tv star and so clearly the idea was to cash in on some of that and have him talk a little bit and then do 911 is a joke. Except Flav doesn't know when to stop. He started off ok, then brought his kids out and made them individually say hey to New York. Then he started rambling, and Chuck D tried to move into the song, but Flav shut it down and kept talking and promoting his TV appearances.
What had started off as smiles and nods and appreciation from the crowd was starting to turn into embarrassed laughs and silences. Finally Flav did his song (which by the way was never one of their greatest anyway, IMHO). And finally when it was done, Flav insisted on showing off his drumming skills, which used up any more time that was available for more PE songs. Chuck D had walked off the stage, and didn't come back.
The Roots did one of the best sets I've ever seen them do - complete with a New Orleans Style brass band. It was fun and funky, and they were great! Unfortunately the rest of the crowd wasn't feeling it as much as I was...
Wu Tang had 50 guys on stage and only 3 of them seemed to do anything, but that's what they do. The whole time I couldn't help but think of the Skit from the Dave Chappelle Show.
* It's DJ Kool Herc for thos of you who don't know...
I am SOOOO jealous! Sounds amazing. Glad you're finding time to get to these gigs xx
Posted by
Angela |
August 27, 2007 at 10:45 PM