Blogjangles :: Music & Biscuits

The original Blogjangles ran from 11/2005 to 02/2008 when it mysteriously disappeared. All posts erased forever, but thanks to webarchive.org I am able to salvage some junk from the site.

FROM April 12, 2007

YEAH, FORGOT THAT ONE, FORGOT THAT ONE Y’ALL:

As a special correspondent for Blogjangles, I feel it’s important to disclose that this review is based on never having attended a rap/hip-hop concert or really enjoyed rap/hip-hop music after an onslaught of such lyrical jems like “I got a phone in my basement/I’m just kidding like Jason.”

Having said that, Blogjangles felt that a reporter who enjoys listening to Hank Williams with a splash of Tears for Fears would be an excellent correspondent for Nas’ Hip Hop is Dead Tour. Its latest stop was in Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theater in NoDa. I assumed the smaller venue would provide a more intimate & stripped down version of Nas himself. His criticism of Hip Hop’s current state, especially of Southern Rap [see Bubba Sparxx], strengthened my opinion that this performance was going to shed some light on what rap and Hip Hop is supposed to be all about.

Blogjangles grabbed a couple of 24 oz. PBRs and headed up to the Mezzanine level, which surprisingly offers a great view of the performer and of the crowd. We grabbed a couple of seats and watched the House DJ crank out some tunes - none of which, it should be noted, Blogjangles had ever heard before. It didn’t matter, the crowd wasn’t shy about going nuts when he threw out a good one.

Anyway, the lights go down and…Nas’ DJ, L-E-S cranked out his DJ Laptop and started playing some things I could even recognize - Wu Tang, TuPac (Hail Mary of all songs) and Luniz (I got 5 on it). Sadly, he began spinning by asking “How y’all doin, South Carolina.” Yikes. What started out as a good time ended with the mention of THAT state. Things continued on a rocky start when DJ LES introduced the first act - a white rapper who looked eerily like Shamrock from the White Rapper Show (Hallelujah Holla Back, John Brown). After he was booed mercilessly even after rapping through his sob story (no surprise here, all legitimate rappers come from nothing), the lights dimmed.

Nas exploded onto the stage with lights blazing and a gold necklace that would put Mr. T to shame. The show started off strong, and then abruptly he forgot the lyrics. After a little composure, Nas tossed out some medley crumbs of his greatest hits such as Street Dreams, The World is Yours, Hate Me Now and If I Ruled the World (ed. note: if Nas ruled the world, apparently all of our children would have food & shelter, we’d all drive convertible Phantom Rolls Royces, and he would deliver George W’s head on, a plate. You know, just in case you were wondering.)

About an hour and a half in to the show, the Blogjangles associate noticed that our PBR cans were empty, and we were discussing the fate of Sanjaya (Michael Jackson lite without the dance moves- yeah…I said it.) With that, we left.

Overall impression…for a Tour marking the death of hip hop, it was still just a hip hop concert: gold jewerly, 20 of his posse on stage, waving your hands in the air, heavy on the speakers, light on what you can actually hear. I wanted Nas not his DJ. He may not be like everybody else, but Nas sure didn’t create anything new and you left wondering if the move to Def Jam has hurt more than help. The search for rap continues…and in the meantime, I’m looking forward to the next Robert Earl Keen show.