There’s something fitting about hip hop in a basement, especially when you have an assortment of raw lyricists like the ones that graced the Church’s stage on November 10th. Reef The Lost Cauze, Sean Price and Raekwon kept the sold out crowd rocking all night. Likeblood? Not so much.
First up was Philly native Reef The Lost Cauze, a last minute addition to the lineup that worked out perfectly. Since 2001, Reef’s been one of the best arguments for hip-hop not being dead you can find and a shinning example of an emcee who manages to write compelling songs while remaining lyrically complex. His live show is typically impressive, but he took it to another level that night, ending his set with a powerful acapella verse that left the entire venue in awe. One onlooker commented that we were witnessing hip hop history with that verse, and he certainly was far from the truth with that sentiment.
While anyone following Reef’s performance would have had a hard time topping his last verse, the group that was actually tasked with doing so never really had a chance. Like Blood, a D.C. rap trio comprised of Yung E, Dre Strong and Mbea Da I, were greeted with cautious optimism by the crowd as they took the stage, but that quickly turned into constant checks of time pieces and a universal wondering of when these guys would stop rapping. While I try not to make a habit of harshly criticizing anyone brave enough to get on stage and rap in front of a crowd, and I’m sure these guys have a particular niche that enjoys their music, this wasn’t the right setting for them to shine. Honestly, I’m not even sure how they got on the bill, but as Goodie Mob so eloquently put, “one monkey don’t stop no show”.
Sean Price’s set was thankfully enough to make the audience quickly forget about the abysmal second act. The Brooklyn emcee stopped in Philly less than a month ago for an excellent performance at 40th Street’s Marathon Grill and his set at the Church was even better. With verses spanning from Heltah Skeltah’s Nocturnal all the way to his recent mix tape, Kimbo Price, and even some stuff off his upcoming Mic Tyson album, Sean displayed a wealth of sick lyrics that could make even the best rhymers envious. Speaking of the best rhymers, Sean’s line “Ah, where was I? Oh, yes. Sean Carter’s nice but Sean Price is the best” got a notable reaction from the crowd, with shouts of “fuck Jay-Z” even carrying over into Raekwon’s set.
Like any good Wu-Tang member doing a live show, Raekwon made the audience wait a while before finally taking the stage. Again, in similar fashion to his Shaolin brethren, the Chef made the wait worth it with a performance that was arguably the best of the night. Focusing mainly on his 2009 potential album of the year, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II, Rae kicked verse after verse for the cheering crowd. Aside from new material, the Chef made sure to hit classics like “Ice Cream”, “Verbal Intercourse” and “Rainy Dayz”. While consistently good, the best part of his set was easily his performance of “Ason Jones”, a heartfelt tribute to Ol’ Dirty Bastard with production by the late J Dilla. Raekwon’s set would have undoubtedly made both those fallen legends proud.
