BAY AREA HIP-HOP HITS OHIO

Happy Halloween? Damn right it was. But rather than shovel out candy to ugly children, I got to watch Blackalicious and Ben Harper give an almost-sold-out Mershon Auditorium their money’s worth. Well, at least Blackalicious did. To tell you the truth, I was more impressed with Ben Harper the first time I saw him live. This time around, he was bland. He was seated, and so was I. He took his grand old time before he’d continue on with an encore; I’d take my grand old time looking amused. Thank God he had a good opening act. No. He had an amazing opening act. I walked in just as they, Bay Area phenomenons Blackalicious, began their set. The dynamic duo of The Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel were joined for this leg of the tour by fellow Quannum MC Lateef the Truth Speaker (of Latyrx), an equally energetic MC called Versatyll, and an awesome female backup singer who may have been Quannum alumnus, Joyo Velarde. I can’t be certain about her though. The crowd was literally that loud when they announced her name. And considering most of the concertgoers were only there to see Harper, that ain’t too shabby. Blackalicious kept that kind of crowd control through their entire set, eliciting enthusiastic cheers during their many call and response sessions. They began their set with a whirly intro of beats and scratches, launching into “Clockwork” from their A2G EP. And after an immense hand-clap build-up, they rolled out one of their most unappreciated gems, “Rock the Spot”. Chief Xcel maintained his station behind the mic wielders, but made his presence known operating one of the sharpest, most developed sound system sets in hip-hop. The Gift of Gab was no slouch, either. He proved his chops aren’t limited to the comfort and security of the studio. He busted numerous freestyles that could make even the hardest of hardcore heads cry, and performed both “A to G” and “Alphabet Aerobics” (easily two of the most insanely genius works of art ever recorded) with unbelievable ease. They dropped nods to old school masters, dabbled with material from Quannum’s Spectrum LP (“One of a Kind”), and sang. Yes, sang-- some crazy, modern revivalist-type spiritualist shit. They kept the preaching to a minimum, but emphasized positivity and love as much as possible. It was intelligent hip-hop of the highest caliber: ass-bangin’ beats, top-of-the-game lyrics, and manic, ill stage presence. Blackalicious force everyone to step it up a notch. And, if you asked me, they left Mr. Harper looking like sad, sloppy seconds.