Blackalicious (photo: Kim Jay)
I don’t know how to feel after seeing Blackalicious last night at Sugar in Victoria. It’s always a momentous occasion when I get to see an act that had such a major impact on me as I was growing up. Blackalicious MC Gift of Gab opened my eyes to an entire other world of hip-hop; one full of intellect and compassion. It’s been a decade since the last time the duo dropped an album on us and while those old songs will always have a special place in my heart, I came into last night aching for new material. With the first night of a short tour in support of the duo’s new record Emoni, I was fairly certain I would finally get some of the new sounds my soul needed.
Unfortunately, on this night I only got an a cappella version of the first single, “Blacker,” which is the same trick Blackalicious played on me at the Atmosphere Gathering this past summer. This time, however, without DJ Chief Xcel in attendance (they didn’t say why), we weren’t even treated to the beat tease they presented there. This complaint is entirely personal, as everyone in attendance was treated to some new napalm lyrics from Gab in their purest, most hearable form. Although it was one of the few times people managed to keep their mouths shut and listen to the man.
Now listen, I’m all for screaming your enthusiasm out and letting the artist and everyone around you know how much you’re enjoying the festivities. But, damn, if you love the guy and his rapping why not wait until the end of the song to scream? You’re ruining it for everyone. Seriously, one of the greatest rappers of all time is on stage, spitting verbal science like a fucking Yellowstone Geyser and you’re screaming unintelligible “woos” like your life depended on it. Poor form, drunk hip-hop fans, poor form…
This all might sound like sour grapes, but it was as damn fine a show as you would expect from an act with 20-plus years in the game. “Deception,” now over 15 years old, still bangs as hard and sounds as fresh as any West Coast hip-hop from that time. The pairing of “Paragraph President” right into “Rhythm Sticks” was flawless and proof that great hip-hop is great art.
And I think I finally got an answer to the question of how many times I can see “Chemical Calisthenics” performed live before I get tired of it. Never. I can never get tired of seeing Gift of Gab rap that song.
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