Talib Kweli – “Everything Man”
A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing a legend being honored by another legend (and a few more in the making). Tampa’s own Godfather of Hip-Hop, DJ Sandman had his “I Am Hip-Hop” birthday celebration concert that featured Atlanta, GA emcee Sa-Roc, followed by some of 813’s finest: The Villanz, Jinx, and Dynasty. But, the main attraction was none other than BKMC (Brooklyn Emcee, for those that don’t know) Talib Kweli.
Sa-Roc posted up after her performance.
Sa-Roc spittin’!
The event was held at the Crowbar in Ybor City, and hosted by Cotton El Murkot. This spot is known for bringing major hip-hop acts like Kweli, Murs, Mobb Deep, Ghostface Killah, and DJ Scratch to Tampa. It’s also a great place to catch rising local and underground talent. Crowbar has essentially become one of THE hip-hop hubs of central Florida. I went with my good friend Chris, who is also an avid hip-hop connoisseur. As soon as we hit the door, DJ Fader could be heard spinning classic tracks from A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, Pharoahe Monche, Common, and Wu-tang. I have to admit that the music seemed to be a little biased; aside from “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground, there were NO songs played by artists from the South or West Coast. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I doubt it. Even still, every cut was a good selection.
Jinx on the mic.
After about an hour of DJ Fader rockin’ the crowd, the birthday-boy himself, DJ Sandman, stepped up to perform. Due to laptop troubles, Sandman left the stage and Fader kept going for another hour, while the sound man got the groups ready. Eventually, Murkot introduced Sa-Roc. At that moment, I heard someone saying “excuse me” repeatedly, scurrying behind me to get closer to the stage. It was Dynasty, scurrying to a spot up-front to watch her friend get busy. Even though she only performed one song, Sa-Roc came across very well with the crowd – a very solid delivery, look and stage presence. Next up were The Villanz (Di-Vine and Main). Here’s a funny story about Di-Vine – one day when I was at the University of South Florida, I was walking to my car after class. A car full of dudes rolled up saying they were selling a CD. Being that I’m from East Tampa, I’m used to cats trying to hustle or rob you and this seemed fishy. Turns out, they were actually selling Di-Vine’s CD. I still kept walking though; I didn’t trust them. But, back to the show. I had heard of The Villanz since they formed a few years ago, but never saw them perform or heard their music (my bad). They were pretty damn ferocious; I definitely need to check out more of their stuff. Next to perform was Jinx. I can’t recall hearing much about this guy, which is sad. Dude is dope on the mic with an energetic live performance. Jinx has rhymes that are intelligent and articulate. On top of that, his DJ is dumb-nice on the wheels of steel too.
Lady Dy with “Magnificent” swagger.
The queen of Tampa hip-hop is Dynasty. Although she hails from New York, she represents Tampa also. I was hoping to get a photo of her and Sa-Roc after the show. Although that didn’t come to fruition, she did grab my shoulders to pass through the crowd again that night. When I turned to see who touched me, I realized it was Dy, called out to her and she responded with a smile and a wave – I’ll take that. When she took the stage, the crowd was hers. Her DJ, Sandman, was set behind the turntables and you could feel the anticipation of the people. After opening with an a capella verse from “Magnificent”, she proceeded to rip with Sandman. She performed “Days I’ve Never Known” and “One Life to Live”, bringing out Mike Mass for the latter. To close her set, Dynasty brought out the man we all waited to see – Talib Kweli. They performed “Stay Shinin'” together and it was a beautiful sight to see. It almost felt like we were watching a big brother rocking the stage with his little sister, passing the hip-hop torch from one generation to another.
Talib Kweli and Dynasty “Stay Shinin'”!
After they were done, big brother had the stage to himself and was definitely the king of the realm. After directing DJ Sandman to play whatever tracks he had of Black Star, Reflection Eternal, or solo work, Kweli was focused on smashing the set. And smash, he did! Watching him perform was like watching a boxer pummel his opponent – think Iron Mike Tyson in 1988. Even without Mos Def or DJ Hi-Tek, he gave us strong performances of classics like “Hostile Gospel”, “Get By”, “The Blast”, “In This World” and “Strangers (Paranoid)”. He also gave a us little bit of Gravitas, his new album that I will be getting soon (kweliclub.com). The only problem I had with this show, aside from the concert delay, was that the performances were short! Sa-Roc only performed one song, The Villanz and Jinx performed three songs each. Dynasty did four songs, maybe. Maybe this was done because of the delay, or to give Talib KWeli more time for his set – I don’t know. Maybe this was the intended lineup. Even still, this was a great night for Tampa, for hip-hop, DJ Sandman, and the crowd in attendance. The whole place was electric the entire night; so much so that even though the Crowbar holds only a few hundred people, it felt like there were a thousand. It was a night not to be missed.
Talib takes over the stage.
Kweli moving the crowd.
@djfader1970
@sarocthemc http://sarocthemc.com/
@mainthevillain http://www.villanz.com/
@Di_Vine_Villanz http://www.villanz.com/
@Jinx813 http://www.freeyourrhyme.com/
@yagirldynasty http://www.yagirldy.com/
@djsandman813 http://www.djsandman.com/
@TalibKweli http://www.talibkweli.com/
@crowbarlive
Talib Kweli – BKMC
Vinyl Words 