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The routine got shook up a bit for the May long weekend, starting with the Slum Village show at Club Soda on Friday.
The Butta Babees opened up, with Zip-Loks, Manchilde, DJ Raid and Black Pearl rocking joints from the classic “Green Sneakers” to “Baby Mother,” a powerful track that showcases Manchilde’s exceptional knack for storytelling. These tracks and more are on their CD EP, “The Entrée,” available now at a Future Shop near you.
As DJ Incubator (a.k.a. Scott C.) spun records in between the Butta Babees and Slum Village sets, the Catburglaz started to freestyle down on the floor, and the crowd closed in around them as more joined in the cipher.
From the moment Baatin glided onstage, the crowd went wild, feeding off the energy generated by the MC’s antics. It’s all about stage presence, and Baatin has it in abundance. I hardly even noticed Jay Dee wasn’t there.
The Detroit trio’s highly anticipated album, Fantastic, Vol. 2, finally came out on Goodvibe after three years of complications. On the strength of bootlegs that had been floating around, many were convinced that this release would hail the arrival of the group that would save hip hop. Now that it’s landed, it’s true that not everybody gets it -- theirs aren’t exactly the highly intellectual lyrics you might think Jay Dee’s beats merit. But that’s not the point. Slum Village tracks do the unexpected -- pairing raw, sexy, gritty lyrics with beats so buttery-smooth that if you blink, what’s being said might go right over your head. At a closer listen, the best part of all shines through: Jay Dee’s beats are so skillfully tailored to fit the texture of each lyricist’s rhyme styles that it shows these cats aren’t just rhyming over the beats, they’re rhyming with ‘em.
I asked a happy concert-goer for his take on the show, and he replied: “I just smile. It was like seeing Tribe Called Quest for the first time. Dope production and lots of energy -- three people onstage enjoying themselves -- having fun, rhyming. Anybody who says they can’t rap should just call me.”
They played “The Look of Love” and “Get Dis Money” as encores. They did all of their verses twice on “The Look of Love so they could play both beats -- hot. It was a crazy party vibe -- fun and friendly, never letting up, even on the sexiest smooth-groove type tracks. It was refreshing to see true entertainers onstage, clearly there for a good time: “Put down the mic, you lost your whole flow. You take it too serious like it’s a gamble. Fuck this rap shit, I listen to classical.” I’m already anxious to hear their next album, which promises to be another experience in a league of its own.
Right after the show, I was whisked off to Sona, where DJ Orion (a.k.a. MC Revolution from Shades of Culture) was spinning in the lounge. A-Trak showed up and played a dope set a little later, to a highly appreciative crowd. It was sick -- he played for two and a half hours straight, beginning with Snoop and moving through an homage to Jay-Z and Biggie. Successfully walking the fine line between turntablist and club DJ, A-Trak slayed the crowd with flavor on top of flavor. He did what every good DJ should do -- he played hits, rocked the place, and didn’t let us forget about his turntablist skills.
There’s a lot going on in Montreal these days. Not only have the Butta Babees been working on their new video (set in a neighborhood barbershop), but Les Architektes have also been shooting material for one of their own. Offsides are making moves too, with their hot singles, “Turn it Up” (of upside-down Mtl. metro-logo sticker fame -- it’s an infectious party track, and it’s been in heavy rotation on Street Sounds K-103 after winning over some high-profile commercial ish in the polls), and the chilled-out “Hipnosys.” They did a live set at Blue Dog a few weeks back -- it brought a different feel to the Back to Basics drill, and it was a welcome change. It’s a small venue, but the intimate show was a treat -- they’re a tight act. The vital components of the Offsides trio are Malicious (known for his impressive battle with Jeru the Damaja a few years back, when he was just sixteen), Bailey and ‘LoKey, and they’ve all been doing this hip hop thing for years, earning due respect as some of the most talented and dedicated fixtures of the Montreal scene. Watch out for their EP -- it should drop real soon -- and until then, turn it up!
The Metropolis was alarmingly empty when we showed up to see De La Soul, live in Montreal at last. Fortunately, the show started late, so the city had a minute to pull its ranks together for one of the most influential groups in hip hop history.
Montreal’s own Catburglaz started it off, creeping up in orange coveralls to nab their moment onstage. The crowd swayed a little to their beats, even though we couldn’t quite catch all their lyrics. We got an instant repeat when their album was played (and played . . . and played again . . . ) in the interlude between their set and De La’s -- could’ve done without that, but in general, everyone was so hyped for the main act that nothing else really mattered.
Finally, De La came on, and rocked steady for almost two hours. They played a set packed with classic joints and delivered straight from the heart. Powerful, to say the least. Their energy onstage is highly contagious, and Posdnuos’ magnetic presence brought the show to the next level. Pos, Mace and Dave got the heads’ hands way up with tracks from ‘89’s 3 Feet High and Rising right up to their latest, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. Relentlessly plugging the new album as the first part of the first-ever hip hop trilogy, Pos came through on his promise to make us all feel the new material. A couple of rock-star light-effects, bubbles floating down from the ceiling and a big-screen video that put a face to Chaka Kahn’s vocals on “All Good” backed the solid musical side of things with just enough spectacle to make those $35 tickets a steal of a deal. The crowd demanded several encores, and when the show finally came to an end, nobody was in any rush to leave.
Walking into the Breakestra show at Le Studio was like stepping back to the
future. Egon and Miles set it off right, spinning funk increasingly laced
with hip hop as the room filled up. Anticipation was high; if you didn't
already know Breakestra, you would soon.
So who are Breakestra, anyway? They're a ten piece, L.A.-based group, driven by the vision of Miles Om Tackett. Their name points straight to their roots: "Break. As in 'Breakbeat.'" And "Arkestra. Out-there jazzer Sun Ra's funkdafied concept of the stuffy classical orchestra." Tackett, the bassist/ guitarist/ upright cellist/ vocalist/ producer behind it all, got into hip hop through its roots in funk music. As he explained to URB Magazine in 1999, "Now I realize that hip hop is the only music keeping funk alive."
Call it funk for the hip hop generation -- all that funk you've heard sampled in hip hop but maybe never really experienced in its original form. Live and on record, Breakestra play with a raw texture reminiscent of authentic 70s funk. At the same time, they move from piece to piece like a DJ mixing vinyl -- satisfying heads always hungry for the next beat.
And Tackett knows about beats. He sidelines as a hip hop producer: that was him on T-Love's "Return of the B-Girl" EP, as well as on tracks for Cut Chemist and Rakaa of Dilated Peoples. Would you have guessed that he also wrote songs for Macy Gray's debut LP? It's true.
Here to celebrate the release of their new album, "The Live Mix Part 2," the
band was in full form. Although I strongly recommend picking up the album,
seeing truly is believing. They played two sets, and Peanut Butter Wolf took
over the stage in between to draw non-stop nods from all the heads in the
room. Breakestra challenged the Montreal crowd's general inclination to
stand still, arms crossed, offering minimal signs of approval. Stiff fronts
were shattered; the crowd was moving. Until Montreal can boast an equivalent
to Root Down, L.A.'s Thursday night extravaganza hosted by Mixmaster Wolf of
Breakestra (where folks like Ozomatli, Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, DJ Shadow
and others often show up to jam unannounced), a night like this comes as
welcome evidence that the funk is alive and kicking.
Mountains of snow in the streets of Montreal are beginning to thaw, and it looks like the people are coming out of hibernation. True, the cold never stopped us, but the rise in temperature brings much we can look forward to. As we peel out of our winter layers, we can anticipate not just warmer nights, but a whole slew of amazing shows, festivals, and events. No matter the season, Montreal can’t be underestimated: because we kick it bi-lingual, we've got twice as much to work with, and the result is a vibrant scene driven by constant innovation. Hip hop happenings are part of the landscape; there’s a solid community of individuals living hip hop and motivated to carry out projects of all kinds. Whatever you’re into, there’s something here for you. Keep watching this space for a fuller picture.
I’ve been exposed to many different sides of the scene in the past few years -- as a writer, artist, listener and kinetic being. Now I’m joining TheCyberKrib.com crew as the Montreal-area rep, to make sure you get filled in on what’s coming up, what’s going down, and who’s around. I’ll be bringing you verbal snapshots of the Montreal scene, focused on local artists and on some of the talent that passes through.
Artists, help represent the Montreal scene -- contact me and let me know about upcoming events, releases, projects, whateva. . . Same goes for promoters and anyone else who knows something I might have missed.