The final event of the Cultural Affairs Commission’s Hip-Hop Awareness Week had something for everyone, provided everyone wanted top-notch California rap or a New York City legend who spoke more than he spit.
The evening’s musical peak actually came in its first half. California-based acts Zion I (Oakland) and The Grouch (Los Angeles) superbly engaged the crowd with their well-constructed beats and insightful lyrics.
After beginning the set with some songs from their new collaborative album, “Heroes in the City of Dope,” the MCs blazed through some of their respective solo tracks ““ Zion I’s NorCal-repping anthem “The Bay” was particularly well-received. The combination of the energetic rasp of Zion I’s MC Zion and The Grouch’s relaxed, steady flow kept the performance varied and unpredictable.
After a wait that was just long enough to scare some concertgoers into thinking the headliner was in fact not in the building, the man himself stepped on stage. Or, more accurately, the men themselves. Ghostface Killah, aka Tony Starks, one of the foremost members of the Wu-Tang Clan, was accompanied by a number of cooperators who were really nothing more than glorified hype men. Not that this mattered so much ““ in addition to the impossibility of overshadowing Ghost’s singularly and spectacularly wacky stage persona (he had at least four jackets on that he didn’t take off), there was not a whole lot of actual rapping during the set, despite repeated promises of “songs for days.”
Ghost and company teased the crowd with snippets of tracks from last year’s “Fishscale” as well as from some older releases, only occasionally sticking with a song for more than a minute. During the considerable time when he was not singing, Ghostface moderated an MC battle between audience members as well as an extended dance party featuring a surplus of college-aged ladies.
Because Ghostface is just as entertaining a stage presence as he is a rapper, these interludes were not as excruciating as they could have been. Now, this is not to say more music should not have played; it certainly would have been nice to hear more than 30 seconds of “Back Like That.” But if you find yourself at a hip-hop show where the main act talks more than he raps, it’s best if that main act is someone like Ghostface, who says things like, “I’m not wearing any diamonds because I am a diamond.”
E-mail Rudman at nrudman@media.ucla.edu.