Live: Big Boi at The Guvernment
Posted on 12. Nov, 2010 by David in Concerts, Music, Rappers
In 2006, when Nas provocatively declared “Hip Hop is Dead”, Big Boi took offence. “Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but if it’s dead, why is the South boomin’?” asked the Outkast MC. Five years later a geographical region can’t claim genre dominance and Nas’s rhetoric requires yearly meditation.
The Peace Dot Love Festival was a ripe hip hop microcosm to explore Nastradamus’s question. And once again Big Boi was there with a punchy response. The event – PeaceDOTLove, organized to raise funds to curb youth violence – featured other seasoned veterans, a misguided newcomer, old tricks and some inventive ones too.
Toronto’s three-piece Keys N Krates got the party started with their brand of live remixing that saw the group engaged in more head nodding than the audience. Keys, drums, sampling, and DJ JRFLO’s turntable wizardry were used to rework everyone from Jay-Z to Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch. It’s a shame the audience was more concerned with schmoozing than admiring a hometown act that is proving its worth as part of URB Magazine’s “Next 100.”
Another instrumental group, Grand Analog, took to the stage with a bottom-heavy set led by charismatic Odario Williams. He sounded confident spitting a cappella, successfully reinterpreting A Tribe Called Quest verses, and telling jokes (calling someone out in the front row for “sexting”).
Skilled party rocker Skratch Bastid finally woke up the audience with a hit friendly set of video DJing. The song selection might have been predictable to crate diggers, but the man’s precision and technicality were undeniable. He was in command playing tribute to the late Roc Raida with fancy spin moves, toying with Kriss Kross’s “Jump”, and beat juggling Parliament’s “Flash Light” with Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.”
I’m still trying to fathom what happened next. Tutu sporting teenager and rap rookie Reema Major, accompanied by body suit clad dancers, fumbled through a set which featured technical difficulties, a wardrobe change, and an autobiographical story of poverty and immigration. Veteran 416 group Ghetto Concept aided Major in the absurd BlackBerry tribute “Swaggberry.”
During a sound meltdown, Major struck a pose and told the audience to “enjoy the visuals.” The 15-year-old’s stripper dance made the recent Glee photo shoot for GQ look innocuous. The whole set was bizarre. At one point, Major urged audience members to forgo luxuries and donate to charity. Then she proceeded to ubiquitously namedrop Gucci and rap about being “so caked up.” Major is poised for a major label debut as Canada’s weak answer to Nicki Minaj.
Big Boi entered the stage rocking a Montreal Expos cap, long shorts, and pulled-up socks. The legendary Atlanta rapper breezed through an opening section comprised of classic Outkast anthems such as “So Fresh, So Clean,” “Skew it on the Bar-B,” and “Ms. Jackson.” His energy multiplied as he got into new material off of Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. His rapid delivery was highlighted over “Daddy Fat Sax” and the operatic military stomp of “General Patton.” There was the obligatory border trouble story and commentary on Canadian women and weed – which led into “Fo Yo Sorrows.”
The crowd surprisingly reacted strongest to “Kryptonite,” a lesser-known banger that features the Purple Ribbon All Stars. The near-flawless set showcased why Big Boi is one of the few relevant rappers in 2010. A fan outside the venue gave this summation: “You don’t even realize how many hits he has – it’s disgusting. He could go on all night.” Take that Nas.
David Lipson is a friend of The Ashcan, and a local journalist. Find him and “Service Interruptions”, a series exploring people and Toronto’s transit service, at maxfloss.com.
