Producer and DJ, J. Period has a track record that can’t be denied. He knows what joints are Party starters. He has the vernacular of musicology that in both inter generational, transcends race/ social class and sonically verbose. Alas he is the last of a dying breed of musician (yes, this writer believes djs are musicians) that can rock any crowd, but has chosen to be faithful to the cultural roots that wooed him into the soil of Hip-Hop. Without a doubt, he is unapologetically down with the classics and clearly effing with true spitkickers.
So when the announcement was made he was doing a mixtape with three of rap musical giants, Pharoahe Monch, Black Thought and Rakim, fans were certain that history was gonna be made.
And it was…
Black Moon’s dj, Evil Dee warmed the crowd up with classics during his super energized set. People from every walk of life danced and sang/rapped to the 80’s and 90’s hits as each breakbeat took you back to The Tunnel, Red Zone or the Limelight.
When the Voice of God assured the restlessly anxious audience that the show would start in 10 minutes, folk got giddy. Edging their way to the front, their faces anticipated the magic that these three emcees on one stage promised. And then it happened…. Right before our eyes the whole energy shifted (which is what concerts are supposed to do… shifted the energy of the fan).
Pharoahe Monch hopped on the stage spitting hits from his Organized Konfusion days, as well as his Rawkus tenure. Monch is one of the most underrated emcees around (people get caught in his lyricism to give him the props for being so explosive on stage). In his set, he introduced a talented goddess of a sister named Maimouna Youssef (aka MuMu Fresh) who remained on and off set all night lending her majestic vocals and rhyme styling to the magic of the evening.
As his set ended, Smif-N-Wessun took center stage. Scratch that, they took the stage and shot up the place with a furry of hits that made The Cocoa Brovaz the jewel of the Duck Down massive. Bombastic describes their performance. Bold and blatantly Brooklyn rude boy. Steele with his playful showmanship and. Tek with his rugged grasp of wordplay kept cheers intermixing w J. Period’s clever reconstruction of these classic jams.
But despite how mega Smif-N-Wessun’s set was, their moment was topped by Dres from Black Sheep who single handedly mesmerized The crowd with only two joints. Did you hear me… only two joints.
From the time that “For a second, I reckon, I got ya double checking… Then again when to your needs did I beckon?” the people lost their minds. It had been so long since anyone has seen
Dres rock the mic and he did not disappoint. The sing songy verses in “Flavor Of The Month” of this 90s joint did not lose any of the razzle dazzle after 20 years.
Dres also has not rusted (though noticeably grey). By the time he got to “The
Choice is Yours,” the audience became orgasmic. But like a teasing lover….
he was not satisfied with how the crowd held back on their climax.In disbelief the shouted out that the crowd was missing what was really happening… that this was history… and gave some an out for being too young to appreciate the mandatory choreography that goes with the chorus and pulled
Chi Ali out to do a complete rewind. After rewinding, the start up was the blast that he was itching to get. “Engine. Engine. Number 9. On the New York transit line. If my train goes off the track… pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!” The place went crazy. The show could have ended there and we would have been happy… especially since he had a special guest hype man, an adult
Chi Ali.
