| Underground
hip hop show gets back to the roots, lights up the Bricks
Atmosphere performs at the Bricks.
/ Photo by Robert McDaniel
By Robert McDaniel
November 18, 2005 | Some feel the
true flavor of hip hop has been lost, with hip hop looked
at like pop music now, and not dangerous or political.
I agreed until attending the underground hip hop show
at the Bricks in Salt Lake City.
The new underground music I heard is screaming to be
shared, as the bands really have something to say.
Bricks is a dance club/bar that has shows too. My eyes
were opened to the underground scene there -- it's not
mainstream stuff. You have to actively look for it or
be introduced to this music from someone.
The music was not about how nice a car you drove. These
rappers were getting around town in a minivan tour bus.
They were wearing hoodies and jeans. They didn't change
their appearance for the show -- What you saw them wearing
on the streets of Salt Lake that day is what they had
on stage that night.
The show was about the music and getting the crowd
to feel alive.
The three acts were:
• POS, a guy pushing the song POS Is Ruining
My Life, from the album Audition.
• Blueprint was the second up and possibly stole
the show with Boombox from the album 1988.
• Atmosphere, with lead singer/MC Slug (Sean
Daley) and his DJ, Ant. The featured song was Watch
Out off You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're
Having.
The three acts that night were memorable, to say the
least.
The first -- M.C. POS, OK, maybe he was forgettable.
But next up was Blueprint.
From the start, Blueprint wowed the crowd with his
sharp wit and humor. "Lets get it like a Mormorn
8 Mile in here," he said.
He was dressed in blue -- a blue polo shirt that was
too big with the sleeves rolled up, and a baseball hat
and jeans. His rhymes were comical at times and other
time dealing with the problem of the inner city.
The acts were all huge self-promoters of their CD's
because they are on independent
labels. As a result, they don't get a lot of radio
air play.
Blueprint DJ Rare Groove was amazing. A good DJ feels
the crowed and can make the party stay live and he did
that and more.
|
He spun some of the older hip hop records that
some had forgotten, but when he played The Pharcyde's
Runnin', as well as A Tribe Called Quest's
Award Tour, it all came back.
After all of this, Atmosphere came out. The
group consists of Slug on vocials and Ant on the
turntables but this time there was a five-piece
band. It felt like a rock show for a bit. They
did seven songs with the band and then they left
and it was just Slug and Ant. That's when things
got good. They played a lot from the new album
and a couple of older tracks from their other
records.
There were a couple of people in the crowd who
were there for the wrong reasons -- fighting,
trying to mosh and not really feeling the groove.
Slug stopped everything to talk with one kid.
Finally he was asked to leave and then the energy
came back.
From start to finish it was four and a half hours
of music. The energy from the crowd that night
could have powered Salt Lake for a week.
|
Slug signs for his fans. /
Photo by Robert McDaniel |
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