State Of The Union: Hip-Hop+: April 2005

Handsome Boys Get Ugly

Took in the Handsome Boy Modeling School show last week at the 9:30 Club here in DC. I've attended several hundred hip-hop gigs in my time, but this had to be the worst concert with the most talent on stage i've ever witnessed--an absolute debacle from beginning to end.

Let me first say I dig HBMS's albums and even own a pair of "Get A Life" DVDs--for the uninitiated, that's the Fox sitcom the group's concept sprung from. The humor in "Get A Life" is sarcastic and often infantile and I like it. The yuks in this concert were stupid as well, but the jokes fell flatter than a crepe under an elephant's foot.

Dan Nakamura and Prince Paul appeared with fake mustaches and told bad jokes most of the night. It didn't get better.

"Y'all dont' look half bad," announced Paul. "But not as good as we do." Ha. We only heard that line reworked about fifteen times throughout the evening.

The pair were joined on stage by a modest band with guitar, bass & keys, who embellished the canned beats. A large screen featured cheap images of the guest singers and rappers like De La Soul and Jack Johnson.

The images appeared to be created by myself on Microsoft Paint. And I can't paint. The character's lips moved a bit with often motionless bodies. It was like watching Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, only minus the jokes.

While they played "A Day In the Life," a single image on the screen without changes represented rappers RZA & A.G. creating a remarkably cheap effect. Couldn't we at least have two separate heads on the screen?

Here's my official review.

While the show centered around flat skits and pre-recorded tunes starring computer animated crooners & MCs, the two handsome boys scratched records and looked uneasy. At least Nakamura did. Here's an incredibly talented producer that puts a club full of folks to sleep when he grabs a microphone.

Prince Paul was a boisterous master of ceremonies with jokes so repetitive and asinine that it seemed like I was stuck in hip-hop's most horrific skit without an ending.

Mr. Dead tried his best to liven things up with vulgar segments that centered on breasts. Let's just say he won't be hitting the comedy clubs anytime soon.

Casual and Josh Hayden did tunes live that were fairly interesting. Dres from Black Sheep even did "The Choice is Yours," but the sizable crowd was already out of the game at that point.

I'm fans of Paul & Nakamura and they deserve to be hip-hop luminaries. But as they'd say, the show was decidely "un-handsome."

Z-Trippin' & P-Mixin' pt. I

DJ Z-Trip just dropped his major label debut.

The short story is: He signed 3 years ago with Hollywood Records and DJs round the world let out a cheer. After finding out that sampling entire songs is virtually impossible, he regrouped with "Shifting Gears." The record is dope and I'll have more on it soon. I interviewed Z for the Baltimore City Paper for a profile that will run in the coming weeks.

Among the things we spoke on was "Uneasy Listening."

For the uninitiated, it's basically the mix CD that ushered in the current mash up craze. He did the disc with DJ P, but is tired of P remaining uncredited for his contributions.

P, of course, feels the same way and on his website, is about to unveil the official "who did what" unveiling of Uneasy Listening's mixes.

Z-Trip got mega large and P didn't. Although P's still had his share of success with regular DJ gigs across the country and even a sizeable tour with 311 last summer.

Here's a quote that didn't make my story on Z-Trip. When asked about "Uneasy Listening" and "Shifting Gears," DJ P had this to say, "I don't really have any comments on the subject of Uneasy Listening. As far as Z's new album, I listened to it and i think it is good for his first produced album."

Breaking it down, there's no beef, but a little tension for sure. Both have beef with the mainstream media neglecting P's part in "Uneasy Listening."

On a side note, The Washington Post's Sunday Source section itentified Z-Trip as a "DJ-rapper."

Steady Slangin' Slang?

In Nathan Rich's NYT critique of "Angry Black White Boy," he calls writer Adam Mansbach out for slangin' too much slang.

"Yet for all the complexity of his subject, Mansbach's tone is distractingly breezy and frivolous, and his language can be lazy. Slang, just like normal speech, has its clichés. "This place is wack," "you need to chill," "I wasn't trying to front" and "in full effect" are accurate vernacular, but they make for dull dialogue and are no better than "give the credit where it was due," "hit the nail right on the head" and "Macon's heart fluttered with nervous excitement."

Huh?

Doesn't Mansbach slang filled dialogue lead the realism of the characters? Isn't this the way folks talk? The jargon isn't overdone and is well warranted. Would Rich prefer the characters avoid slang in their daily discussions that we, the readers, are supposed to be privy to?

Kudos to Mr. MANsbach for a dope read. Macon & Co. are explosive. Learn more about the book here.

Common's Conundrum

As folks debate the seriousness of Common's coke gig a while back at hiphopmusic.com, his record's release date looms.

The facts as reported in Billboard:

"Like Water For Chocolate" sold 748,000 units

"Electric Circus" sold 293,000 units

"Be" will go gold and you won't see a hacky sack in sight.

Now it's official--Com & Darius Rucker now have at least one thing in common.