To the chagrin of many of you, I've been on a bit of a hip-hop kick recently, but I may have been cured of that tonight. I went to my first true hip-hop show, and I can honestly say it's one of the worst shows I've been to.
In the name of exploring other music genres and expanding my horizons, I've been delving into hip-hop lately. I've always sort of had an interest, but hadn't pursued it much beyond the really popular radio songs or music videos. But, the last few months I've been trying in earnest to see what's going on in the world of hip-hop, and I've been fairly impressed. I wouldn't say that I'm a whole-hearted fan, because I probably don't like 75% of what's out there, but I can say there are some really cool things going on in the genre that I can get behind, and shake my booty to. I'd downloaded a few Chamillionaire songs and liked what I heard, so when I saw he was going to be coming to town I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to round out my exploration and go to a hip-hop show. And so I did something I almost never do, I went out and bought Chamillionaire's album, The Sound of Revenge, in preparation.
To say I was impressed is an understatement. Granted, I wasn't expecting a lot, but the album is solid. The guy is great when it comes to lyrics, and the beats and hooks are tight as well. There are the obligatory songs about chicks, weed, slabs, etc., but there are also some pretty great songs about religion and life and death. Interesting topics to explore on a hip hop album, but he does so successfully. In fact, after I put the CD into heavy rotation I found myself skipping over the popular radio songs in favor of the rest of the album. While the radio songs (Turn it Up, Ridin') are catchy as hell, I wouldn't say they're the strongest on the album. It's pretty obvious after a few listens that Cham isn't your average rapper; he's smart, he's funny, his lyrics are clever and his flow is tight- perfect for my first hip-hop show.
I was happy to see Cham would be performing at one of my favorite concert venues, but I wasn't too thrilled with the ticket price- $25! That's pretty steep for this venue, tickets usually run 15-20 bucks, but I ponied up, all in the name of experience. Chamillionaire was the headliner, to be accompanied by Lil' Flip and Pokafase. I had no idea who Pokafase was, and didn't care much about Lil' Flip, so when the person I was going with wasn't going to be able to make it until 9:00, I wasn't worried. Usually shows start around 7:30/8:00, with the headliner coming onstage around 9:30/10:00. But apparently things work differently in the world of hip-hop. By the time we made it into the show at 9:30, Cham was onstage. We arrived in the middle of a song, and then heard Ridin'. And then he left. What!??! I was totally fucking puzzled. Apparently we missed the whole damn performance. But not to fret, Lil' Flip was still to come. What kind of shit is that?! An opener comes on after a headliner? A headliner is finished with his performance at 9:45? I was a teeny-tiny bit pissed. But okay, I was there, I may as well enjoy. Pysch.
We stood around waiting for Lil' Flip's ass to show up for over an hour. In the meantime some other rapper came on and performed a couple songs, but we weren't feeling this guy at all. His flow was weak and his beats were even weaker. I've never been so bored at a concert in all my life. Finally at 10:45 Lil' Flip decided to come on stage to a pretty excited audience. And here's where I came to a very definite conclusion about hip-hop shows- they aren't for women. Granted, we were fairly close to the stage, and thus in the thick of the action, but the vibe is totally masculine. Testosterone seemed to be oozing out of every crevice and every pore of that venue. Dancing was next to impossible with all the dudes bouncing. I felt like I was in a mosh pit. Luckily I had a bit of protection in the form of a male companion, but even still, I was totally uncomfortable. On the positive side, I was pretty impressed with the production of the songs. The beats and vocals sounded great, something I was a bit wary about coming in.
The night ended with Chamillionaire coming onstage to perform Turn it Up with Lil' Flip, a song they also collaborated on in the album version. Again, the sound was great but the vibe wasn't. For me, anyhow. The guy I was with enjoyed himself immensely, and the other dudes around us seemed to be having a great time as well. The group of girls to my right who kept getting shoved and stepped on by drunk dudes didn't seem to be having as good of time though. So consider yourself warned: don't show up late, and don't even bother to go if you're a chick unless you're prepared to get stomped.
to do #201: go to a hip-hop show.
Note, though this was a disappointing experience, I'd still recommend Cham's album The Sound of Revenge. It's pretty fantastic!
