Artists: Talib Kweli, Urban Sophisticates
Venue: Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
Date: July 14, 2006
Having been to very few rap shows before, I was curious to see what the audience for Talib Kweli would be like — although since this was Chapel Hill, I knew it wouldn’t be as one-sided as it might have been in NYC or ATL. Indeed, the eventual ratio of about 1/2 black 1/2 white was somewhat surprising to me (although in retrospect, I have no idea what I was expecting).
First up: The Urban Sophisticates from Greensboro, NC. A jazz group with a healthy dose of soul mixed in. Deafening performance. Huge fat singer. Good show.
After some interludes by the MC for the night (some NC rapper from Chapel Hill), it was Talib’s turn. Smaller and a little bit more showy than I’d have thought listening to this unassuming (slightly-indie) rapper with a strong background (half of duo Black Star with Mos Def). WIthin minutes, it was as if I was in a club, with just about everyone dancing (dancing is such a foreign experience if you only go to indie rock shows!). Talib himself was fully into it, sweat dripping constantly. He performed a good mix of songs including older classics from his days as Black Star to upcoming hnits (including one using The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby as the beat!), and his delivery was as I expected — flawless and inspired.
However, that was also part of the problem that night — there were no surprises. And the music bein gmixed by the DJ was just like the records…perhaps I’m being too harsh, but in any case, after about 1 hour of his own stuff, it turned into an all-out dance party, with lots of people joining him on the stage. That was my cue to leave.
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