Wednesday, October 14, 1998
Cooking peas
MUSIC: This trio of homegrown hip-hoppers
displays refreshing versatility, vitality and a penchant for
creative dance moves
By Nerissa Pacio
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Catfish, corn pone, collard greens. Salted pork, corn on the cob
and Black Eyed Peas. Though not a Southern concoction themselves,
on Monday night, the Black Eyed Peas (BEP) were right at home in
the basement of the scintillating Sunset shanty known as the House
of Blues.
This nascent hip-hop band has simmered over from the cauldron of
the Hollywood club circuit over the past three years, reaching
boiling point when they signed on with the summer Smokin’ Grooves
national tour.
Though hailing from the West, this trio seems to have the
capability of holding their own against the reputation of reigning
East Coast hip-hoppers, the Roots, as Monday night’s packed house
suggested.
BEP delivered hits off of their current album "Behind the
Front," from the creeping drop beats of "Fallin’ Up," the
hyperspeed, light-flashing rendition of "What It Is," the
Salsa-dance inspiring, Latin-grooved "Karma," and their biggest
current release "Joints and Jam," peppered with easy beats and
danceable chords. Alternating between a flickering, energetic
running-in-place and statuesque group poses, BEP kept a short
45-minute set hyperbolically upbeat.
The Peas seem to slant their reputation just a bit differently
from their predecessors and peers – from their trendy,
Hollywood-chic, retro-thrift garb, to the melding of their Pacific
Islander, Native American, Black and Latin backgrounds into their
music, to their refreshingly positive take on hip-hop lyrics in a
scene inundated by gangster rap. But most notable about BEP’s live
performance was their use of a live band and the three primary band
members, Taboo, Will.i.am and Apl.de.ap’s interactive and inventive
dance schemes.
Complete with an electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and
keyboard, BEP brought their music to a visual and auditory apex.
Left behind was the confining image of the lone rap artists in
front of (or behind) electronic turntables on a sterile, half-empty
stage. Instead, BEP gave a live performance worth listening to and
watching, with a female back-up vocalist adding buttery R&B
interludes. Equally revved-up live band members provided the
backdrop to their own springing motions and charming dance
commotion, completing a three-dimensional performance.
The three lead rappers repeatedly intertwined footwork and
unraveled again in a series of seemingly choreographed yet
unchoreographed movements, with the black bandannaed,
dragon-shirted Taboo almost always recentering the group in a
triangular formation. At one point, each of the three leads got
spotlighted to do a headstand or two and a few kicks through the
air, topped off by some serious breakdance routines.
Taboo’s hard, mysterious stare and sweeping martial arts
movements, combined with meditative arm extensions, juxtaposed
Will’s brightly smiling eyes and bouncing feet as well as Apl’s
quick, cutting and playful dredheaded bobs. Together, the group
managed to keep darting eyes and audience members jumping along,
following all three in a game of visual tag.
Though the momentum seemed to wane gradually toward the end as
the band members took on lengthy freestyle vocals and
instrumentals, the beats stayed powerfully resonant. Most everyone
stayed interested in what was to come, which was, unfortunately,
the end of BEP’s set.
The challenge of sustaining staying power will, of course, be
BEP’s true test over time, but as for this night’s abbreviated
performance, the band kept the young, makeshift Hollywood speakeasy
bunch craving not just a sampling, but the full course.Will.i.am
(left) and Apl.de.ap raise the roof during their performance last
night at the HOuse of Blues. Photo by Jamie Scanlon-Jacobs Daily
Bruin
Will.i.am jumps high to the beat during the Black Eyed Peas’
set.
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