By Odeisel
Funkmaster Flex carrying records is a sight you thought was reserved for a trip down memory lane, but on this night, it was the ultimate sign of respect as Flex supported the opening DJ set by the legendary Kool DJ Red Alert.
You have probably been to your share of shows and concerts, but as soon as you heard the kingpin of New York radio exhort “There’s no new s**t being played tonight” as part of this old school celebration, you could tell that the evening was going to be different.
For those of you who remember the 80s and 90s before Roy was forced to lean back and when Tyson was the scariest thing since some little known disease called AIDS, many legends milled about, recalling memories of Harlem’s Willie Burger, Ron G mixtapes, old clubs such as the Latin Quarter and the Fever, and old cars such as the ‘92 Maxima (the one with the keyless password entry), Land Cruisers that said Toyota, and other memories from back then.
As a party DJ, Flex is not the bomb dropper over dubious records that he is on the air. He has a clear and deep love for the music and reads his audience better than just about any other on the wheels of steel. After an hour of so it was time to get to the performers.
You expect acts to age and this show was no exception as artists like Dres from Black Sheep and the Lords of the Underground showed a bit of rust on stage. There was no getting you bored, but there was Doitall tripping over the mic cord, no doubt surprised by wires in this age of cordless mics. There were some DJ hiccups, a couple delays with both sets. That said, their performances were not trash and they delivered their hits with vigor.
Next up was the entire Brand Nubian group. Sadat X and Lord Jamal haven’t aged a bit, and while Puba put on a couple, it didn’t seem to affect their showmanship or breath control. The group never skipped a beat while performing their classics (“One For All” “Slow Down”), Puba’s solo hits (“360”, “I Like It”) and the Brand Nubian hits without Puba, notably classic single “Punks Jump Up.”
Nore produced the first noticeable rise in energy, performing his bangers “Banned From TV,” “Grimey,” and “I’m Leaving.” He had a stage full of hype men, one of whom was incredibly drunk, but they all seemed to know his music. Following CNN’s street banger “Bloody Money” and a Big Pun tribute, however, his set became the bottleneck when his posse held the show up for a performance by a blah thug R&B act. It ended up costing precious minutes from the headliners which was a tragedy. Psycho Les of the Beatnuts dropped his verse from “Off The Books” and Nore closed the set with “Super Thug” and “Nothing.”
EPMD’s set suffered the most from Nore’s overrun as they were only really able to squeeze off four songs from their huge catalog of music. Their abbreviated set included “You Gots To Chill,” “Strictly Business,” and “So What You Sayin’.”
The headliners Redman and Methodman took the stage amid the controversy with Joe Budden. From the opening song you could tell that they came to kill it. From their collaborative efforts to their individual bangers, both MC’s showed that when it comes to that stage there are few rappers old or new that can keep up with their pace.
Stage dives, water dousing and tag team tactics fueled a great performance, with neither rapper glued to his spot and each going from corner to corner giving every section of the crowd their money’s worth, more so than any of the acts on the undercard.
The highlights of the show came courtesy of guest performances, with Inspectah Deck and Capadonna chiming in on “Triumph” and for the first time in over 15 years, K-Solo with Redman and EPMD giving a complete performance of “Headbanger.” Pandemonium ensued.
The show didn’t really start until 1:30AM and went on to 4:30AM, but as you can see, the energy was immense. In contrast to that other much ballyhooed showcase this week featuring the next big thing, this show was decidedly more raucus and energetic. Not to detract from the now school and the next school, but they have a lot to learn performance wise before they can take it to the stage with Redman and Methodman. Detractors take note.
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