A turntable away

The night began @ 9:18 with the opening set by the “Chicharones” – A three piece hip hop group with obvious influences from the Beastie Boys and The Cut Chemist. Unapologetically goofy the lyrics they spat were all of different topics but mostly placating to the 20 something college crowd, with songs that have chorus that say Fuck you or talking about potty humor, they succeeded in livening the mood and getting everyone ready with a purposely shitty cover of “Eye of the Tiger”.
Next came the “Food Chain” – Originally a Denver based 7 piece group that consists of 4 MC's and 3 keyboard players that laid down a great slightly funky East Coast sound. Taunting the crowd for a reaction; to which was mostly well received, it filled the cavernous room with an urban appeal. Then at 12:10 the MC that everyone came to see got on stage.
“Talib Kawali” – We shouted... What can I say the man is a genius. In the hour he preformed and the subsequent encore tKawali must've laid down over 20,000 words. Just a wall of rhythm and rhyme I was blown away at his showmanship as well as the ability to get the crowd to spontaneously “testify” during a performance of “I Get By”. There wasn't a steady foot in Cervantes Theater with people pushing ahead to hear him speak during a virtually unplugged mike set. With only his voice and a shitty amplifier, causing a; dirty-underground-bootlegged sound, he got the 500+ people to quite down just enough to hear him almost whisper his lyrics.
Upon his arrival of his encore set tKawali performed new tracks from his soon to release album as well as classic standards from Black star(Mos Def and he) and compilations with Kanye West and Hi-Tek (recording under Reflection Eternal).
During the climax of an unbelievable show, he invited the crowd to join the stage with him. People swarmed to get up close and personal with a living legend. The ladies were first and then the fellas joined the revelry, (myself included). I came a turntable away from shaking the mans hand until security blocked my passage. Undaunted I began to bob my head to the beat as the revival continued around me. That is until a stripper pulled me aside, (another story entirely).
Poetry and art met with what I would consider the best Hip Hop Set I have ever attended. Talib Kawali Remains in the Pantheon of Hip Hop Greats like Nas, Tupac, and Jay-Z.