From: nestajones@aol.com (Nesta)
Newsgroups: rec.music.hip-hop
Date: 12 Nov 2000 19:41:57 GMT
Subject: KRS-One, rock on...
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For some reason i had a premonition KRS-ONE at SOB's on election day wouldn't
be too crowded. not cause it was election day, or cause it was SOB's, or cause
it was KRS. just because...i don't know, it was just a feeling i had. show
was to start at 10, doors at 9. so me and my girl planned to get there a bit
after 9, slide thru the door, make our way up close to the stage for optimal
viewing.

now this is what i call a line. people as far as i could see. we kept walking
down varick st...walking, walking...around the corner...the end of this line
must be somewhere. so much for premonitions. nyc was representing in full
force for krs tonight.

my girl had wondered if this crowd might less white than some indie shows we
had seen recently. i thought so. a scan of the crowd proved this to be so.
it was real integrated, of course, as any hip-hop show is these days, but of a
darker complexion overall then i see sometimes. i thought i might see some
older heads, but it appeared most people were my age (25) or younger. 10 feet
ahead of us in line was a 40 year old white guy with a scraggly beard and
unkempt hair. people like that always intrigue me. what path did he follow to
end up at a krs-1 show in 2000?

this line wasn't moving at all, and once it did, it was sloooow. apparently
security was conducting cavity searches up there. if this show was gonna start
anywhere near 10, mad heads were gonna be still outside and not pleased. i
received my share of flyers. a stimulated records sampler tape which has
convinced me to get that missin linx remix featuring prodigy. we tried to
figure out how the prodigy posters had been stapled on the street lights, 40
feet above ground.

finally we neared the door. i was searched, they didn't find my dynamite, ex,
and machete. as i waited inside for my girl, the dj was playing classics. we
had some main source, doug e fresh and slick rick, gang starr. and where the
fuck is she? about 15 minutes later she finally gets in. the woman security
guard needs faster hands.

good timing, right then channel live was announced and took the stage. alas,
the open spot right next to a pillar that i had picked out 15 minutes earlier
was now gone. not good, as my girl is vertically challenged and sick of shows
in which she is entertained by coffee stains on the lower backs of those
standing in front of her. but we cycled around to the side of the stage, where
the population density was noticeably lower.

i had had no idea who was opening for kris. i don't really care about channel
live, but of course "mad izm" is the joint, and i thought if they did that shit
with kris, they'd be worth it. halfway thru their second song i made my away
across the club to the bathroom and bar. the most embarassing shit is when
you're trying to navigate through a gang of people and you get past some only
to run into a railing you had no idea was there. uh, yeah, this is where i was
headed....

the bathroom was small and only slightly less dirty than those of most clubs.
regardless, they had delusions of grandeur with an attendant by the sink. as i
washed my hands, he squirted soap on me. thanks pal. i still couldn't find
it in me to tip him. i grabbed a corona for my girl and crawled back through
the masses. channel live was doing some new songs. they were average.
nothing i'll ever remember or ever care about hearing again. not to mention,
they didn't perform "mad izm." how you can have one classic song and not
perform it is beyond me, but whatever.

however, after they came off, poor righteous teachers was introduced. i have
to give it up, although they were slow as fuck getting us into the place, the
turnover between acts was very efficient. i don't know why it can't always be
like this at shows.

anyway, i was charged to see prt. i only have 2 of their albums, but they're
both dope, and i think wise intelligent is one of the most underrated mcs
around. he came out with culture freedom and some broad whose name i forgot.
it started out promising. wise intelligent ripped it a capella for a couple
minutes, some shit about the bling bling mentality that pisses him off, but it
was dope. unfortunately, as they got into the meat of their performance, it
all fell apart. i didn't find them terrible (as my girl did), but just sloppy
and uncompelling. they've been around at least 10 years now, to give a
performance like this is inexcusable. when will people realize that having
everyone yell in the mic at the same time SOUNDS LIKE SHIT!!?!?!? unless
you're all in sync (which takes, hint hint, practice on your show), it's just a
loud distorted mess. i'm making them sound worse than they were, but it wasn't
good, and i was disappointed. there was also a lot of ranting about the
industry. fine, a good middle finger to the powers that be is always fun, and
perhaps necessary. but to stop the show for 5 minutes to bitch about it is
wack. their show, if it had any momentum, lost it right there. not to mention
the fact that wise intelligent's complaints were contradictory.

fortunately, prt was only on for about 15-20 minutes, and after a break of no
more than 5 minutes...."are you ready for the blastmaster??????" the crowd's
anticipation became palpable. i used my size and quickness to dart around and
through some chumps to improve my floor position. and here he was, the first
time i've ever seen him, krs-one.

he bounded on stage and the crowd went wild. there's just something about
seeing a certified legend do his legendary thing10 feet from you which is just
so...it can't really be described. i think about how i'll tell my
grandchildren about this. i think about how lucky cats were 58 years ago to
bounce from club to club and see dizzy and bird and powell changing music
before their eyes. and i guess in a way i'm coming as close as i can to that.
and all this history stands before your eyes. as dope a show as someone like
slug gives, his place in hip-hop, his influence on the scene, his stature in
the community is not, and never will be, anything like that of a krs-one. so
kris's very presence before you, on a stage not unlike one he might have rocked
in 1986, feels like a cosmic convergence of time...or not. but it's powerful.

however, that legendary status only goes so far, as i know from seeing rakim a
couple years back. the performer of the past can't make the show of tonight
worth a shit. he's got to bring it now, yet again. and kris was ready to do
that. he had a lot of energy from the get-go. he has tremendous stage
presence. his being 6-4 and broad helps, especially on a small stage like this
one, but charisma just pours from him as well. behind him were 4 dancers, in
matching yellow shirts. they seemed like a hype team, all smaller than kris
and bopping to his every move, every word. they were a small audience, already
won over by the performer, and helped make the real audience buy into it all.

i can't possibly remember all the songs he performed. you kinda forget how
many dope songs he has, until he pulls one out after another, some you had
forgotten about, and then you remember later he didn't even perform a couple of
your favorites. of course, the way he performs them, even some of his lesser
songs (in my mind) become classics. krs-1 is the epitome of an mc. he
controlled the mic and moved the crowd. he has the powerful voice, flawless
breath control, impassioned delivery. he hopped from one side of the stage to
the other, urging each section of the crowd to prove its mettle.

"black cop," "sound of da police," "my philosophy," "stop the violence," "still
#1," "jimmy," "love's gonna getcha," "you must learn," "the mc," "a friend."

he took it back to 86 with "south bronx" and "the bridge is over."

i was surprised he didn't do a little more politicizing, being election day.
he merely said "may the best man win." he also gave props to all who had
voted, which also surprised me a bit. but at the end, he asked why
politicians weren't dealing with some of the issues we care about, which led
into a strong performance of "why is that." and with that, he left the stage.

the crowd clamored for more, and of course 2 minutes later he came back, this
time with rahzel. i'm gonna cut this short, because i've been writing for
years now. i'll just say i've seen rahzel like 4 times now, over a few years,
and while his act is amazing, and yuo should see him if you haven't, it is the
EXACT same act every time. i was hoping he would simulate some classic krs
beats and let krs freestyle over them. but krs just stood there watching him.
he was genuinely loving it. i had the impression he's seen rahzel before, but
he had a huge grin on his face, completely loving what he was watching. so
even though i was kinda bored, seeing kris so into it made it worth it.

and there we go. great performance. the man still has it, go see him while
you still can. new album coming in march or april he said. he did a few new
songs, and they sound dope. all on the battle rhyme tip, but hey, heads ain't
really checking for a t'cha anymore anyway. well, i guess except the few
hundred of us at sob's last week.

...nesta...

Most of you can't even comprehend what I am saying to you
Even in my human form the message I'm relaying

One good thing about music
When it hits you feel no pain