twist of fait accomplis

Last night's show at the Nation was sho' nuff fine, with every act holding their own. I went with Mister Master Matt and a couple of his friends, and I bumped into Andy, one of the open mic storytellers I met at Fray last Friday (!). The show, in short:

The opening group, a local group whose name I didn't catch, looked like it consisted of KRS-One's twin brother, Talib Kweli's twin brother, and Common's uncle, but they put on a good show, with some well-delivered, progressive lyrics.

Blackalicious (featuring Lateef) shined, as expected, though I was a tad disappointed that Gift of Gab didn't do "Lyric Fathom."

Though I was disappointed by the Dilated Peoples' previous show at the 9:30 Club, they were ten times better last night at Nation. Their set flowed smoothly, Babu ripped the cut, Rakaa Iriscience flowed the way I remember him flowing the first time I heard him, and Evidence did a dope freestyle without saying his own name once!

The night closed out with headliners Public Enemy. Hip-hop's kind of a strange bird, as only now are some of the "old schoolers" actually getting near middle age. Chuck D is 41. But, damn, he can still rock a show. Unfortuantely, Flavor Flav was not in attendence. He was there for the group's first show in New York the night before, but New York State wouldn't let Flavor leave the state because of a driver's license violation. Granted, Flav's had some trouble with cars in the last ten years, but come on! It's Flavor Flav! He wears a big clock! Nevertheless, Chuck D and Professor Griff did a good job together, Chuck's band was pretty dope, and his DJ (DJ Lord) was mighty ill (doing a killer routine with "She Watch Channel Zero" to close out the night). Topic of the night (besides the Son of a Bush leading us into the war his father didn't finish) was MTV's outrageous censoring of the new Public Enemy video. Apparently MTV thinks it's OK to show the morally questionable mainstream crap that promotes drinking, smoking weed, and objectification of women, but it's not OK for Chuck D to say "Free Mumia" in his lyrics! Wow. A poignant moment came when Chuck said that MTV execs were turning "people with black faces into blackface."

Two guys right next to me almost got into a fight during PE's set. I had flashbacks of the riot.

All-in-all, a fun night, but I am a tad tired at work today (didn't get in until almost 3am).

12:12 PM

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