By Ismael AbduSalaam
KRS-One is an artist that needs no introduction to Hip-Hop fans. For most of his life, the Blastmaster has dedicated himself to the advancement of Hip-Hop culture. This past Thursday (May 21), young and old emcees alike who call Atlanta home came out to celebrate the culture and arguably its greatest practitioner.
When glancing at the prodigious lineup for the show, one might assume the flow of the concert would be mired as performances ran over and sapped the audience’s attention span. Dubbed the “ATL All Stars” on flyers, the list of performing emcees included Killer Mike, Bobby Creekwater, Stat Quo, Nappy Roots, Stacey Epps, The Regime, Clan Destined, Punchline, Ness Lee, Stahhr, and several others.
Surprisingly, the large lineup proved to be an asset, as each artist/group performed one solo each before being immediately replaced by another. This kept everyone’s energy strong, as each emcee wanted to elicit the strongest crowd reaction to their tracks. All the artists were different in appearance and style. And while some like Clan Destined chose to spit over original beats, others like Senor Kaos opted to rhyme over well-known bangers like Raekwon’s “Wu Ohh.”
Past the eleventh hour, Duck Down’s Buckshot graced the stage to the rhythms of Just Blaze’s Black Album standout “Public Service Announcement.” Knowing he was far from his Brooklyn home, the Tupac-named BDI Thug quizzed the crowd’s Hip-Hop knowledge by ripping the original version of Black Moon’s “Buck ‘Em Down.”
The crowd was up on their Duck Down catalogue, and nearly took the roof off the venue when Buckshot started the confrontational boom bap of “How Many Emcees?,” and the smooth jazz sounds of the Donald Byrd-sampling “Buck ‘Em Down Remix.” To close, the Brooklynite hit fans with a 6-minute medley combo of arguably Duck Down’s biggest hits, the “I Gotcha Opin Remix” and “Who Got Da Props?” The latter was a great moment for Atlanta fans, who were treated to 1 minute of the beautifully sampled original (Ronnie Law’s “Tidal Wave”) before everyone began jumping and pumping their fists throughout the venue.
The Blastmaster made a low-key entrance at the close of Buck’s set courtesy of their collaborative first single “Robot.” From there, KRS went into a trademark, warm-up freestyle. Unlike many emcees, Kris’ impromptu rhymes were legitimate freestyles, as he referenced the attire and demeanor of present fans and media alike.
Once he deemed the raucous crowd was ready, KRS went right for the jugular with his famous diss “South Bronx.” MC Shan, the former bitter rival of BDP during the Bridge Wars, appeared on stage and gladly handled hypeman duties for the track. It was a moment you’d never see with any of today’s artists. But over 20 years of history has taught these two emcees the importance of competition to the art of Hip-Hop.
Although the Blastmaster has well over 15 albums worth of material to choose from, he wisely kept his set to gems from his late 80s to mid 90s catalogue. Fans who came of age in the 90s were blessed with tracks from their era like the industry-cautioning “Outta Here” and “Love’s Gonna Getcha,” while fans from the beginning had their own memory lane session through 80s classics “9mm Goes Bang” and the “Remix for the P Is Free”
Cognizant of his own humble start as a hungry emcee initially shunned by legendary DJ Mr. Magic, KRS-One made sure to let his opening acts shine on stage with him. Through an impromptu freestyle jam session, nearly every artist present touched the mic and rhymed over the emcee-friendly beats of Dipset (“Dipset Anthem”), LL Cool J (“I Shot Ya”), Shyne (“Bad Boys”), 50 Cent (“Wanksta”), Ill Al Skratch (Where My Homiez”), and Raekwon (“Ice Cream”).
The one misstep in an otherwise flawless performance from the Bronx legend was his predilection to conduct multiple, extended freestyle sessions throughout the night. This caused the Blastmaster to run out of time, and deprived fans of a few additional classics like “Poetry” and “My Philosophy.”
As Hip-Hop prepares to enter another decade, KRS-One is still blazing his own path of self-determination. And in doing so, the Blastmaster continues to leave a blueprint for up and comers of what it truly means to be an emcee.
Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill
Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion
