Man I love education. Not the institutionalised crap you have to suffer through primary and high school (uni ain’t so bad). But an education that I actually care about: MUSIC.
Being so well-versed in all things hip-hop, my good mate Mike (Sphynx on the ITM boards) kept on reminding me of the night when I told him I hadn’t heard of The X-Ecutioners. “You haven’t heard of The X-Ecutioners?!”
And when I told him I hadn’t heard of Roc Raida: “You haven’t heard of Roc Raida?!?” At this point I should’ve just said I didn’t know vinyl still existed to see if his face would turn blue and explode from the immense “I can’t believe you don’t know!”-ingness, but I just smiled and said: “…well I’m here, right? That’s a start”.
Formerly known as the X-Men, The X-Ecutioners originally consisted of around 11 world-class DJs, which later on got reduced to a smaller group which were present on the night at The Espy. The group currently consists of Rob Swift, Grandmaster Roc Raida, Total Eclipse, Precision and Boogie Blind. Through numerous collective album releases and a steady stream of work (plus one DMC World Championship courtesy of Roc Raida) since the early 90s, The X-Ecutioners main function in the music world is to display the fine art of turntablism, and beat-juggling. But before we got anywhere near the main act, which was kind of a big deal as it was the group’s first show playing together as a collective for a while (and was exclusive to Australia…why? I don’t know), the crowd got treated to a set from New Zealand hip-hop DJ and producer P-Money. His set varied from underground to commercial, with a few of his own productions thrown in (one featured Akon, and while it didn’t receive such a rousing reception, sounded pretty dope to me). He’s probably better known for his association with Scribe, and the crowd dutifully roared when he played Not Many.
Next up was MC Wildchild who was playing what was essentially an extended warm-up set for the main act, but who was performing with so much gusto and (I can’t believe I’m using this word) “panache”, you would think he had top billing on the night. The man ran out on stage and quickly proceeded to pop… and lock. This was definitely not the opening I expected, but it set the tone for his whole set and introduced us to his mantra: “why can’t hip-hop shows be fun? Why can’t you DANCE at a hip-hop show?!”
After quickly learning that Wildchild was on the Stones Throw label and shared a musical home with quite a hefty line-up of forward-thinking hip-hop alumni, the preconceived notions of his skill began to enter my mind. I thought having never heard of the dude before, I would be safe from pre-judging and pre-conceptions. But as soon as “Stones Throw” was mentioned, the pressure was on (OK not really, seeing as it was all in my mind). I was relieved when the guy actually lived up to the brand name that backs him, and delivered a fine underground hip hop show, with slightly more emphasis on love, peace and good times. There were fists in the air (fists of joy), the usual bitter feelings toward those deemed to be “killing hip hop”, and the now-obligatory and oft-used Dilla shoutout. After playing for over an hour, the main acts were now… over an hour late. As much as I was enjoying Wildchild’s performance, the man just would. Not. Leave. The stage. I mean there’s only so much fist-pumping, head-nodding and finger-bobbing I can take in one go, plus I had to save some of it for the X-Men (I love hip hop concerts, but contrary to what Wildchild says, they’re not the most dance-friendly).
After finally exiting the stage, The X-Ecutioners entered to endless applause. Obviously these guys had a reputation that preceded them, but I was the newbie so I was yet to be impressed. However, that quickly changed once they all got down on the wheels of steel, chopping, cutting, scratching and beat-juggling like the pros and masters (in Roc Raida’s case, a GRANDmaster) that they are. What excited me the most was the act of taking something recognisably commercial, for instance Missy’s Get Ur Freak On, and basically re-inventing the song by scratching out a different beat structure to it, live on the decks. The only other time I’ve seen this was by a local, DJ Dexter, who also re-imagined the beat sequence to the same afore-mentioned Tim & Missy classic. I think the act itself speaks to the myriad ways in which hip hop can exist and continue to be fresh.
After all, hip hop often arguably functions on the foundations of pre-existing music, with its entire composition from the drums, to the bass, to every single instrument extracted from an old source and made to sound new, in some cases. Then why not re-imagine and interpolate modern hip-hop the same way? I see the whole genre as a self-sustaining entity. Take for example M.I.A.’s Paper Planes being sampled by Jay-Z for Swagga Like Us only mere months after its release. One line from her track results in a completely new one, both equally bangin ’(both of which were played on the night by P-Money). It’s a beautiful thing when done right, and almost awe-inspiring when it’s done on the spot via pure skill and talent as the X-Men showed (and proved).
Kat_in_Japan says...
Mad!