Threes Up for A Trio of Badass Boston Hip-Hop Shows: Moe Pope, Statik, DL...
Boston
hip-hop has come a long, long way since I showed up here to cover the
scene 10 years ago. In that time, countless artists have seen
international acclaim, and banked a good buck on tours from here to
places like Japan and Germany. Cats like Slaine, Reks, and
Termanology are renowned as some of the genre's premier lyricists –
on either side of commercial divide – and top producers like Pete
Rock and Premier regularly collaborate with artists from New England.
Fuck – 7L and Esoteric are about to drop an album – an entire
goddamn album – with Inspectah Deck (yes – I'll be reviewing the
shit out of that one).
Though
I look forward to covering more up-and-comers like Natural, Catch
Wreck, Mark Merren, and Dutch Rebelle – and Charmingly Ghetto, of
course – the old dude in me is always psyched for action from the
talent that came up as I was honing writing chops. That excitement
comes in many forms, starting with my satisfaction in seeing Moe Pope
finally win some overdue respect. He narrates urban life in ways that
roughnecks and new school bohemians can seemingly appreciate equally;
and after dropping brilliance with Electric and Project Move, his
hustle-hardy efforts alongside Rain and Christopher Talken caught
fire outside of the immediate rap world.
Moe's
wide attraction is no wonder. He's never cared much for hip-hop
trends, and though there are traces of raw boom bap in his very
breath, his latest full-length, Let The Right Ones In, steps
across boundaries that even P.O.S. rarely toes. The guests, some of
whom will join Moe on Friday for the big release bash at Brighton Music
Hall, help facilitate the fantasy; Ceschi brings a dark organic jazz
vibe to overdose on, while Lady Lamb the Beekeper and Jake Mehrmann
jump on the epic exit opus “Last Song.” For straight saliva,
Boycott Blues and Blacastan also touch the lineup, and so forth. All
that plus sick packaging make for the first definite Bean rap buy of
the year.
A bit
off the music tip, but never too far off, is the latest project from
Statik Selektah and his 'round-the-clock, club-to-club,
block-to-block, station-to-station all-around-the-nation squad at
Showoff Entertainment. Looking to give a little something back to the
community for all the good fortune that they've had lately, this
Thursday night at Good Life they're presenting a truly excellent
short film they produced – directed by and starring JFK – for
autism awareness called Shirley Ave. It is the Showoff crew after
all, though, so they'll also be partying in honor of Statik's born
day, all the while watching the Celtics beat up on the Knicks.
All of
which brings be to the final purpose of this post – to welcome back
Daniel Laurent to the Bean rhyme scene. DL started leaking me some
tracks a few months ago, and not surprisingly, he's still writing far
above the fray, reflecting all he sees around him through deep
personal accounts of his continuing coming of age. As part of a seven
show New England series, he'll be joining Letia Larok and Dre
Robinson at Church next Monday – and at Grand Canal on February 27
– for what's guaranteed to be a night of throwback anthems and new
heat, not to mention old friends tossing back shots of brown liquor.
A reason to squeeze your thumb against your index if there ever was
one.