Winter Classic

Boy Wonder and I ventured to the Nokia Theatre in Times Square, NYC to see the Winter Classic, basically a hodgepodge of underground rap acts.

As with any hip-hop show in New York, you must prepare for a lot of standing. I mean the doors opened at 7:30 but the show wasn't supposed to start until 9. Boy Wonder was ill-equipped and round the 8:35 mark started to show signs of fatigue. The warm-up DJ ws actually pretty decent, playing a nice mix of old and new and never ever heard, but at least it made you distracted. The DJ that was actually on the bill, Lord Sear, was uneven at best. He kept making weird advances to the ladies and tried to make us dance but put on head nod music. He gets a C+.

The host's name was Kinetic Energy but he was more like inertia. It was like I was hosting in front of my iTunes. He would shout something real loud, then rap along a bit with whatever Lord Sear was doing. Half of the audience was doing that. F.

The show started with some cat named Spec Boogie. It started off appealiing cause he had two fine backup singers. And the first song wasn't that bad. He also kicked an a capella with some sick one-liners (my father was a photographer so you know I'm focused). But then the train got derailed. He was hard to understand. His energy seemed forced. And his Loosey crew wasn't so fantastic. But he's young so he gets the B+ for effort and a overall B-.

Next up was Pete Rock who did a DJ set. He started off strong with some classic cuts and then brought out a surprise in Jin, who was surprisingly good. Made me actually want to hear some more from him. After Jin left though, Pete's set kind of flagged. So he gets the B+. If he had cut it off after Jin it might have been an A.

Little Brother came up and just did the damn thing. They had so much energy, especially Phonte. It was so great to watch becuase what they were doing was exactly what I do when I listen to their records. The silly dancing, the exaggerated body movements, the jumping around. I didn't feel so stupid. They did my favorite song ever from their first album and they did the current favorite of The Factory. The only problem was that their set was too short. After Pete Rock rocked for the longest I expected something comparable to his set but it seemed to be over too quickly. They still get the A+++.

Big Daddy Kane was up next. I really didn't know what to expect but he blew my mind. He came out in some red leather pants, red stripe Adidas, and a red shirt. But he killed it. He had more energy than the Spec Boogie cat, and he could have been his father. He was running back and forth, jumping up and down, and even made a walk through the crowd (I got to touch his hand and got a mix CD). He also brought out two of the Furious Five and they did the classic "The Message." A+

MF Doom was the headliner and I must admit I'm not that familiar with his material which might have affected my opinion. It helped that there were people around me who were feeling it cause there energy transferred to me. The beats were crazy but I couldn't understand what he was saying. But I did leave wanting to hear more and I guess that's what you're supposed to do. So he gets a B+.

The encore seemed a little rushed. Kweli did come out and rocked a song and a freestyle. Doom came out but it seems there was pressure to end the show. We later heard that they had gone 25 minutes over time. Great record for the first hip-hop show in that venue.

So overall it probably gets a B. Not the best show I've been too but definitely a respite from wackness. It was also nice to be around some people who I know feel music just as much as me. Sometimes I feel alone and this put my mind at ease for maybe two more weeks. Plus I got to go to a hip-hop show were white people were acting up instead of black people. One was getting arrested when we left and two drunk chicks almost gave Boy Wonder a concussion. Extra credit moves them up to a B+.