Rock the Mutha Effin Bells 2009 -- Chicago Edition

Yo yo! It's Adam again with a review for that ass.

Spent yesterday in the lovely hamlet of Tinley Park for 2009's Rock the Bells show. If you don't know, it's an all-day hip hop festival. Started at Noon, ended around 11:30pm. Tons of acts.

Got to the show around 4:30 because I just can't handle all day at a venue. I'm just getting too old for that shit. If I get there too early, I spend the end of the night waiting for shit to be over just so I can go home. Also, I'm not really interested in seeing Murs or Jay Electronica, like last year.

So I rolled in around 4:30 since K'naan was set to perform around then. First thing I saw was Buckshot and KRS on the second stage ripping it up. I didn't even know Buckshot would be there, so I was stunned when I was waiting to get past security and I heard his voice. He rocked some of the classic Boot Camp shit and some new joints off his forthcoming album with KRS. Not bad. Watched his set, then rolled into the main stage for K'naan.

He opened with "in the beginning" and performed it pretty well. He had a live band backing him up this time, which was a welcome change from the last time I saw him when he was rapping over his own track playing on the sound system. He still had the chorus of his songs playing, but it was much better than the entire show being rapped over his CD.

Unfortunately, the crowd was sparse and pretty laid back at 4:30--maybe saving their energy, maybe just not into it. I don't know. Whatever it was, not too many people were participating with him. It was a shame, too, because his whole set was pretty solid. When he performed "Take a minute," it gave me the chills.

He did "waving flag" last and kind of annoyed me with it. He did the whole song really slooooow and acapella first, trying to get people to sing along with him. It didn't work, due to the aforementioned lackadaisical crowd. The band then kicked in and he did the full version of the same song and rocked it. Chills, part 2. Too bad the crowd sucked at this point and he left the stage to a weak applause.

Next up, Reflection Eternal. Yup, Kweli AND Hi-Tek, together. They got an album dropping this summer sometime. I will definitely cop that. Kweli live shows, however, are another story. I've seen him live 4 times now, the first time being in 1999. He has only once put on a good show for me, and that was in 2007 at the HOB in Chi. That was the only time he sounded good. He just yells into the mic too hard and spits too damn hard at the end of syllables. It's pretty annoying. He also managed to yell at the soundman 3 times in the middle of the set. nice dickhead move, kweli. So after struggling to make out a word he said for 45 minutes, he left the stage and I was happy about that.

Next up, Big Boi. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I left for some refreshments and found a sprite tent with Street Fighter 4 set up. Hung out and whipped my boy a few times while we waited for Big Boi to finish. I'm no joke with Sagat.

Then I heard another strange sound from the second stage. The Gza was getting down. I was pissed that there were no announcements of who was playing when, since I didn't even know he was there, either. He's rapping along when Raekwon and Ghostface join him, so now I'm paying attention. We get down for a while until i get a text that the Roots had already started on the main stage. No freaking announcements! So I run over there to catch their set. I have never been disappointed with a Roots show, except for one venue when the acoustics were subpar. They played a good set, but the crowd was freakin lame. It was like a mob of zombies. No one getting into it at all. They left to an even weaker applause than K'naan. Bullshit.

By then it was starting to get dark, and the crowd last year really came alive at night. Busta came on next. He KILLED it. The crowd was going bananas! He only did snippets of his tracks because, as he said, "i only got a little time and i got hits". He was the highlight of the night, even though I don't even like his newer shit. Every 30 second snippet he would perform had everyone dancing, even on the lawn. I was impressed.

Next, the headliners. Damian Marley and Nas. They have an album coming out this summer together. I forgot the name but it should be good. Damian came out first with a live band and some backup female vocals a la big poppa Bob and the Wailers. He did 4 or 5 of his solo tracks as well as a couple of his dad's songs. He sounded great. I was moving the whole time.

Then Nas joined him and they did some of the new songs off their upcoming album. Some of them sounded really good. There was one were they were rapping really fast back and forth, one verse at a time. A couple were slower and pretty dope. I'll check that album for sure. Then Nas did his solo gig. No surprises there as he did pretty much the exact same set as the year before (and he was even wearing the exact same white v-neck and white pants): Life's a bitch, If I ruled the world, one mic, made you look, hip hop is dead. Crowd was moving. Damian rejoined him for "Road to Zion", which sounded great but the crowd wasn't moving much. End of the show was "Welcome to Jamrock", which got some movement but not as much as I expected.

Overall, the show was a let-down. Maybe it's the all-day festival aspect, but I didn't enjoy it. There are too many acts, too little time for each act, and it's dragged out for too long. By the end of the night, everyone is exhausted. I don't think I'll go to this type of show again. I'd rather just see one or two groups throw it down and do a proper setlist.

At least I didn't have to suffer through some no-talent ass-clownery like lil wayne.

Funny Weezy Story -- Music Update

I saw this article on this digital hip hop website. (http://www.hhcdigital.net/HHCDigital001.pdf) Just wanted to share.

SPEAKERBOXXX
LONG LIVE WEEZY!

There are a lot of questionable things Lil’ Wayne has done in
his career so far – kissing his ‘father’ on the mouth, carrying
a guitar around without being able to play a note, inspiring
Kanye to record an entire album in Autotune – but you’ve
gotta give it up to anybody who can sell over two million CDs
and bag four Grammys while effed-up on cough syrup, trees
and pills.

Should Weezy croak in the next couple of months
though, the ridiculous hero worship that saw 2Pac elevated
to the level of rap deity will pale in comparison to the kind of
mass-hysteria which would sweep a Wayne-free world.
Biggie had no chance to fall off and poor Big L didn’t get time to
sell out. Imagine if Ice Cube had choked on his own vomit after
a case of St Ides following the release of ‘Death Certificate’?
He’d be in everyone’s ‘Top Five Dead Or Alive’!

So if Wayne happens to suffer a Pimp C-style syrup-related heart attack,
then the next five years will see Wayne Stans declaring him
the GOAT and releasing 38 volumes of ‘The Carter’ bootlegs.
But if young Wayne manages to stay above ground then it’s
only a matter of time before he alienates his fans by recording
15 experimental rock albums, plays himself in high-profile
TV interviews, and abandons music with the exception of
performing the title track to the latest family comedy he’s
starring in. Stay healthy, Weezy! Robbie Ettelson

Feel free to wiegh in on how great, horrible, or mediocre he is. He is most definitely a favored topic on this blog.

I also wanted to pass on word about some the music that I've been recently bumping.

- Mos Def, Ecstatic. To tell the truth I was "myah" about this album on the first couple of listens because I wanted an exact copy of Black on Both Sides A week later on the pick back up this is sounding like a long player. I can just let this play from track number 4 on. The first three, "myah."

- Dark Night of the Soul, DangerMouse and Sparklehorse. I've only listened through this a couple of times but I like. I especially liked the price of free ninety-nine online. I love Danger for that. You can check the story and find the cd elsewhere online if you ain't knowing.

- Infinity+1 & Down South Remixes, A Trak. I've been listening to these non-stop since my boy DJ Mammoth but me on to A Trak. He's beastly. He's also on a tour right now sponsored by Bacardi. These albums are so money on a run or at a dance party with people who hate Weezy.

Sidenote: Bicardi should be giving something back to hip hop after all the free advertising they've gotten through it. You member the "tipsy off Bicardi Limon's" in hop hop ("lie-mun" too, not "lee-moan"). Where you at Hennessy? Moet? When are your tours coming to a town near me?

Paz,

Slimster