hip hop concerts

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dud

shit sound so, you cant ever hear the words (sort of like a rock show where you cant hear the guitars) properly
ultra loud beats, mcs less so, or the opposite, so the MC sounds jarring and annoying
rappers dont really do anything except strut up and down the stage shouting into their mics, gesticulating with their hands like theyre trying to point to someting the whole night
djs are usually shit, or boring, or just non existent
the songs are basically like karaoke versions, cos the beat is exactly the same, as its played off a record, and the rapper just recreates it perfectly (or not as the case may be, but it ends up sounding like a xerox of the record, which is boring in my book - most rappers dont vary their songs live, apart from do it to a diff beat but thats only sometimes)
there is more potential for hip hop shows to be better - they could tinker with drum machines, and samples and stuff during the show instead of just track after track, but they dont
i can count on one hand the number of great hip hop shows ive been to
thats not very many

― hiphopfan, Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

I've only seen one hiphop show that sounded good, and that was Ugly Duckling opening for Basement Jaxx. So I guess they used Jaxx's sound system etc.

― ryansf (ryansf), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:45 (twenty years ago)

the best live hip-hop I've ever seen has (perhaps not coincidentally) involved zero drum machines, ie, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick doing La-Di-Da-Di, or likewise the Black Dot Collective freestyling w/beatboxing. The only other interesting shit I've seen done live has been by Digital Underground, and that's only because Shock G actually likes to play instruments.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

most of the Rhymesayers dudes I've ever seen in concert are very good live.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

(I guess I shouldn't have said "zero drum machines" when I meant "DATs, lazy DJs, crappy records, etc.")

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

AUDIENCE. It is the AUDIENCE which makes a hip-hop show a YAY or NAY experience. Unless of course they performers don't understand fully how to work the audience participation aspect of HIP-HOP SHOW, and then you're at a RAP CONCERT, which is completely different.

Now when I say "I can do anything you can do better" y'all go "NO YOU CAN'T" and I'll go "YES I CAN" and y'all go "NO YOU CAN'T".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)

The length of many performer's performances often directly correlate to how responsive the audience is.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

That may be the least hip-hop sentence anyone has ever typed, consequently.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

"Ladies and gentleman, please indicate the degree to which you do not care by placing your hands above your head"

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

hahahahaha

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 11 August 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

there is more potential for hip hop shows to be better - they could tinker with drum machines, and samples and stuff during the show instead of just track after track

You don't want to go to a hip-hop concert, you want to go to a DJ SPOOKY concert. We'll exchange your tickets for a nominal fee.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 11 August 2005 18:03 (twenty years ago)

In general a dud, though seeing the GZA live was pretty solid, aside from every opener hanging out on stage and looking stupid. With a clear voice like Mr. Grice's it helps understand the lyrics (I guess having most of them memorized helps the comprehension factor, though).

― Adam Harrison-Friday, Thursday, 11 August 2005 19:30 (twenty years ago)

classic

― astroblaster (astroblaster), Friday, 12 August 2005 00:22 (twenty years ago)

Dud, but I think most concerts are 'dud' these days, outside of jazz.

― deej.., Friday, 12 August 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

I saw the Anger Management tour - classic. Other rappers should just give up - they can't compete with this.

― Blaow Son, Friday, 12 August 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

Ice-T on the first Lollapalooza tour (yeah, I'm that old) was great, but for the most part, most live Hip Hop shows I've seen have fallen pretty short. Public Enemy (opening for the Sisters of Mercy, oddly enough) were fucking on fire as well.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 12 August 2005 04:59 (twenty years ago)

The last hiphop show I saw was Lyrics Born and RJD2. It was pretty fuckin' live.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 12 August 2005 05:04 (twenty years ago)

Ooh Public Enemy was great live! I think I had some serious hearing loss from that shit though. When I saw RJD2 live last year, I played pinball during most of his "set."

― deej.., Friday, 12 August 2005 06:26 (twenty years ago)

The best hip hop show i have seen was (god help me) the Black Eyed Peas back in late 2000/early 2001. Live instruments, a lot of energy and I seem to remember a lot of breakdancing. But yes, on the whole Hip-Hop does not translate well to stage. I saw Guru a few weeks ago and he was garbage.

― My name is a sentence., Friday, 12 August 2005 07:02 (twenty years ago)

i've thought about that before and found it's weird as, originally, hip hop was built on performances in front of people (in streets, clubs...), no ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 12 August 2005 09:16 (twenty years ago)

yeah but hip hop became a studio/record-oriented medium, and less party-centric, the old school block parties/live aspect became outmoded, and basically unnecessary. the new crop of rappers that followed didnt need to rock parties etc.

― fizzle, Friday, 12 August 2005 09:34 (twenty years ago)

guess you're right. old school hip hop was more basic musically and relied more on the mc's whereas now, it's more "sophisticated" and produced... but i won't complain as i find old school nice and all but a bit boring to listen to...and am quite impressed by hiphop/rnb sound nowadays.
and i never go to hip hop concerts !

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Friday, 12 August 2005 09:44 (twenty years ago)

well there's old school from ten years back, and old school from the late 70s. i agree, i find it a tad boring too.

― fizzle, Friday, 12 August 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

WTF people? When they say "hey", are you guys not saying "ho" or something? Jesus.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 12 August 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Rahzel puts on a better show than 90% of all rock bands I've ever seen.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 12 August 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

Keeping hype mans to a minimum, having a talented DJ or playing live instruments and having a commanding and interesting stage presence are the most important elements to a good live hip hop show. These things aren't very common - the main problem seems to be rappers' tendency to have some other prancing dude shout over his rhyme every six words or so. See Wu-Tang Live DVD - it's silly how big an annoyance it is and how easily this problem could be solved.

The Roots put on an excellent show - largely seamless, lots of covers interspersed (I've seen "Pass the Courvoisier", "Whole Lotta Love", "Rapper's Delight"), very talented musicians. When Black Thought raps, he does so by himself, hype-man-less, and he actually SITS DOWN and lets the other musicians do their thing, be it sing, rock out on guitar, organ solo, drum solo, whatever, when the time comes.

Aesop Rock & Mr. Lif were really bad live. Not just because of the bad music, but because their on-stage banter was surprisingly cheesy and poorly played.

DJ Shadow + Lyrics Born + Gift of Gab + Lateef the Truthspeaker on stage all at once was amazing as well because the music is so good and the hyping was done in a classy manner.

So, largely dud, but possibly classic.

― Cheek0 (Cheek0), Friday, 12 August 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

That's generally pretty OTM. It depends on the performer. Some of them are just like to do the "I'm gonna stand here all menacing like you watch me really seriously" thing which is a fucking boring ass type of show. Unless you're like Immortal Technique or whatever (I think that's who I mean) and that's your shtick. It doesn't have to be filled with pyrotechnics and shit, but if they act like they're having a good time and trying to entertain, it'll be fun even if the crowd is wack.

― Candicissima (candicissima), Friday, 12 August 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

Dud most of the time, I'd say. It's the same shit for just about every show. "Hey! Ho!" "Put your hands in the air..." No thanks.

That said, I'm with Alex in NYC about both Ice-T at the first Lollapalooza and Public Enemy (but I saw them with Anthrax and Primus). Beastie Boys put on a pretty good show. Rahzel and Common were good. And I just saw Daara J, a group from Senegal, and they were a lot of fun, really high energy.

― Jeff Sumner (Jeff Sumner), Friday, 12 August 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

its not less party centric at all. If anything, rap music has gone even further back, to the point where its just DJs that entertain party people with rap music, and maybe the occasional microphone shoutout. The "MC" as a party hyping character is long long gone.

― deej.., Friday, 12 August 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

I was at rock the bells like 2 weeks ago and the audience blew my mind. Redman was up there doing his set and people in the audience were singing along to like every lyric. this is fucking REDMAN people. I didnt think people actually bought his solo albums. The audience was on point for pretty much the rest of the show, too. I guess it impresses me so much because I can listen to a hip hop cd a million times and still have no clue what the words are.

― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Friday, 12 August 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

Ice Cube touring Amerikkka's Most Wanted at the Palace in L.A. was pretty classic

BDP was tremendous live if you like BDP, probably awful if you don't, but "Bo! Bo! Bo!" or whatever it's called was totally shredding - KRS bit down on the words "the ONly way to to deal with raCISM if you're BLACK" so hard, really great

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Friday, 12 August 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

The Spitckicker tour stop in NYC a few years ago was actually really hot - Black Star, Biz DJing, De La Soul all awesome. Common only slightly boring.

I just saw Kanye do one song at a station and was great and high-energy; I'm seeing him again this weekend so I'll withhold judgement, but I've probably seen better hip-hop shows more often than not.

― yuengling participle (rotten03), Friday, 12 August 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

IMHO the worst are sets featuring weak instrumental rock/hardcore (Nep)tunes, jams, solos etc. The Beasties sucked in that way too.

― blunt (blunt), Saturday, 13 August 2005 02:00 (twenty years ago)

"Hip hop concerts" is too broad. This should be a Search or Destroy.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Sunday, 14 August 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

not too broad if youve seen enough hip hop shows!

― hiphopfan, Sunday, 14 August 2005 12:23 (twenty years ago)

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hip hop concerts - C or D?