THIS is how you rock a hip-hop show

SHOWMANSHIP. Interplay. Creativity.

No push button dj’ing with explosions and gun shots all over everything. No safety net (the only safety net being the ability to improvise when something goes wrong… and something ALWAYS goes wrong on stage).

And I don’t mean a rap group with a turntablist who does his battle routine in the middle of the show. I’ll take the good ones over most modern day hip-hop shows but it’s not an integrated experience.

A DJ + an MC + a band + dancers. Hella rare in 2008. You definitely don’t need all of those ingredients but the most important part is actually putting some thought into it at the very least. Some personality & charisma go a long way.

Why do people pay money to see bammas walk back and forth across the stage shouting over each other and hardly engaging with the audience except to berate them or bully them? Is that supposed to be entertaining?

No wonder I rarely go to hip-hop shows anymore. And with record sales in the toilet, EVERYBODY has to tour these days, so the quotient of crap shows is shooting upwards.

And the “shows” that aren’t outright belligerent are really pep rallies. Most times if you hear that an act rocked their show, it wasn’t because their performance was particularly engaging. It’s because they have hits and everyone was excited to be in the same room with their favorite rappers yelling the lyrics at the top of their lungs. It’s a karaoke party. Admittedly, that can be fun sometimes (like the last time I saw A Tribe Called Quest) but in general I need a much more substantial experience for my concert dollars.

I guess I’m just old school.

And I’m fine with that.

3 Replies to “THIS is how you rock a hip-hop show”

  1. So true!

    It seems in the present day of microwave hits, the “hip-hop” artist don’t put much in their shows to entertain. They just show up(sometime) and walk on stage with an entourage of 60+ dudes, yelling into the mic..sounding like crumpling paper –cause if you listen thats what they sound like.

    You know you are gonna hear multiple gunshots…and this phrase here, (insert lame, bejeweled rapper name here)is a P***y. It ALWAYS happens.

    ….sigh….sigh

  2. THIS IS MY SHIT!!! Thanks for posting. I’ve been seriously looking for this for years.

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