show

CunninLynguists, People Under the Stairs, C-Rayz Walz, Raekwon the
Chef, & Ice Water Inc.
Written by SIME

I’m a humble cat. Who loves rap music and jumps at any chance I can to
be around it…including the opportunity to chill with “dope rappers,”
8mile style. I was surfin’ online the other day and happened upon my
homeboy’s self-touting review of his VIP-status experience at a show
he went to a few weeks ago. While reading it, I couldn’t not think,
this lucky mothafucka has no gripes biggin himself up…narcissist
style. And you know what…I was fuckin’ entertained. With that
inspiration in mind, I decided to hold nothin’ back in the following
concert review. Hopefully the readers will view the personally
propping details as engaging entertainment, not vain self-absorption.
If not…shoot yaself in the face. With that said…

Vermont. What the fuck is in Vermont? Mountains and trees…dank trees.
A shitload of farms and “classic New England towns” [some poet’s
quote], and one booming, increasingly diverse [with a long way to go]
college city…Burlington (more like Brrrrlington). Folks’d be
surprised, and usually are, to find such a hot spot in the Green
Mountain State…but make no doubt about it…the Queen City is one of the
last well-functioning cities out there. And the hip-hop interest isn’t
slowin’ down…not a bit. With one of New England’s dopest small concert
venues, Higher Ground, right next door, not to mention a handful of
other hip-hop friendly spots downtown, the Burlington area sees its
fair share of dope emcees and talented deejays.

After rockin’ to a sold out Mr. Lif/Murs/Aesop Rock show a week or two
ago, this past Wednesday I got the chance to catch another healthy
dose of raw, live hip-hop music…energy included. On the bill:
CunninLynguists, People Under the Stairs, C-Rayz Walz, and headliner
Raekwon the Chef along with his understudies, the less known Ice Water
Inc. After hearing from homeboys from Rhode Island to Maryland that
the tour had been hot at the stops, I was hyped to check out their
contribution to the collective hip-hop conscious of Burlington.

After walkin’ in with my girl to the sounds of the CunninLynguists, I
immediately bumped into C-Rayz, who was sellin’ his product while
rockin’ a fresh iCON the Mic King tee [Whatup iCON!]. He’s definitely
got his own style, and was cool to bullshit with for a minute. But I
had to change gears…there was dope music to pay my attention to.

CunninLynguists opened with a tight thirty minute set…2 words, “So
Live!” Reppin’ the Southern Underground, Kno, Deacon, and SOS brought
their humorous and completely fresh style to heat up the cold autumn
evening…performing songs from both their albums. Admittedly, the cab
was late pickin’ us up so I missed the first half of CL’s set, but Kno
assured me later on that what I missed was just as dope as what I was
fortunate enough to catch. CL are definitely set to blow up. Check out
their sophomore release, “southernunderground,” for assurance.

Following CunninLynguists, after a brief intermission [remarkably not
longer than it should be…which is almost always the case], West Coast
underground duo People Under the Stairs came on. Thes and Double K
rocked a tight set for about 45 minutes with one of their homeboys
helpin’ to keep it live with background vocals and whatnot. I gotta
say, for a shitload of white college kids and wanna be b-girls [true,
there was SOME diversity], the Higher Ground crowd definitely known
how to rock to some dope hip-hop when they hear it. A little less
familiar with PUTS music [the track “Acid Rain Drops” definitely left
a favorable impression with me], I was nonetheless impressed by and
interested in their performance from the first drop of a beat to the
token “PEACE!” A near guaranteed conclusion to any hip-hop set.

A quick side note, there’s nothing like getting down to some dope
music with a dope girl by your side…or intertwined all in ya shit. If
you find a girl who loves hip-hop and is more impressed by People
Under the Stairs and The Roots than Ja Rule and 50 Cent…hold her
tight. Thus is the type of lady that Andre3g croons about on damn near
all of “The Love Below.” Somebody call the museum.

Anyways, sweaty from Whalers hat to Reeboks, and not about to bounce
from our ‘leaning on the stage’s speakers’ spot, we bobbed our heads
in anticipation for the next act as the staple hip-hop classics that
you’re bound to hear between sets played. The short wait was worth it.

C-Rayz Walz came ready to rock. Appearing at first in a face
distorting, efficiently evil lookin’ red mask, and wieldin’ a light
saber, Walz looked ready for Holla-ween. Openin’ with his classic
“Whodaf*kareyou,” Rayz instantly got the crowd hyped up. Roamin’
around onstage with his homey 4th Pyramid, Walz took the prize for
most energetic performer of the night. Mothafucka was jumpin’ around
more than Kris Kross? Yeah…weak…but I’m tired and you get the picture.
Reelin’ off all the hot songs from his recently released album, “Ravi
Pops,” C-Rayz had the crowd hoppin’ from Guns and Butter to Buck 80.
Other songs that he ripped included “Battle Me,” “Protect My Family,”
“Floe,” an older track, “Degrees,” “We Live,” and a bunch others.
Whatever, I was slightly drunk…rum and cokes during class beforehand
and a 40 will do that to a skinny cat like myself. Rayz definitely
provided an entertaining 45 minutes, grabbin’ someone’s cell phone in
the front row to provide an unexpected free 30 seconds of rhyming to
an unknown recipient. One of the funnier things of the night was when
C-Rayz constantly shouted out botched up versions of “Winooski,” the
town that Higher Ground is located in, that I think 4 people actually
represent. He ended his set with a tight freestyle, mentioning shit
going on in real time. PROPS to him for the liveness.

As soon as C-Rayz spit his last word (“Peace!”), I bounced to the back
of the venue to catch up with CunninLynguists. Three cool mothafuckas.
I got a chance to politic with the humorous Kno, laidback SOS, and
Deacon, that cat who can outflow anyone in the game. Eventually after
catchin’ up for a minute, I bounced behind the scenes with Deacon and
PUTS’ homeboy for a little extra-curricular mind alteration, Vermont
style. We were just chillin’ and bullshittin’ with everything goin’
lovely until I got yelled at by a staff member for bringin’ beer onto
the fire escape…at which point we all headed inside. Standin’ directly
on the other side of the door was none other than the Chef of the
moment. Higher Ground serves up mozzarella sticks, but this guy’s been
known to cook up a bit more “marvelous shit…shit’ll make ya mouth
water.” After yellin’ at us for bein’ where he was seconds before he
hit the stage for his set, Rae gave quick daps and then hopped on
stage. Nice job, sime…blowin’ up the openin’ acts’ smoke spot and
pissin’ off the headliner in a 30 second time frame! But guess what?
Shit was still ALL GOOD.

After getting back to general population a bit blazed, I chilled with
my boys, playin’ pool and shit. A bit later they all got the chance to
meet a bunch of the evening’s up and coming rap stars [a
stretch?]…Vermont hip-hoppers were in heaven. As impressed as I am
with my lady’s sincere appreciation for dope hip-hop, she was equally
impressed at the opportunity to meet and chill with one of her
personal favorite groups, People Under the Stairs, and be introduced
to the opportunistic Kno, who wasted no time in signing her stomach
with some not-permanent enough ink [in her eyes at least]. An
autograph on the flesh by a world famous producer…Like wo! It was
undoubtedly all love.

Oh yeah, the headliner. Raekwon the Chef. The fucks’ Rae even done
lately? After releasin’ one of the most solid debut albums in the 90’s
[in my opinion], it seems Rae’s played the background to the
infallible Ghostface the past few years. Why is he even out on an East
Coast tour, and what the hell’s his new music even sound like? Well,
turned out that none of those issues were too important, as Rae did
the took the fancentric approach [which too many artists questionably
avoid], and laced the majority of his set with classics from “Enter
the 36” to “Cuban Linx” to whatever the fuck his subsequent releases
were called. Does anyone have these releases?

After the amazing [I ensure y’all I am not exaggerating] C-Rayz Walz,
Rae’s set was a bit anti-climatic. Not only is his newer material that
he did perform widely unknown, but Rae did the superstar rap artist
thing and had about 38 people, all with mics, on stage with him. As
I’m typin’ this I can’t help but think about the beatdown a hip-hop
magazine writer got years back for portrayin’ the Wu in an unfavorable
light…[crosses fingers]. Don’t get me wrong, having perhaps a last
chance to wild out to unquestionable classics from “C.R.E.A.M.” to
“Incarcerated Scarface” [peace Connecticut!], was appreciated to the
fullest. Seeing the future stars of hip-hop [if fans out there are as
into CL’s music as I am], show just as much enthusiasm [minutes after
they finished performing themselves], as the average new-jack was
refreshing to say the least. Humility is under-rated.

The show ended, the artists stuck around and signed some autographs
and chilled with their admirers, Raekwon pulled off riding shotgun in
a minivan [I think his mom was driving], and ya favorite writer got a
chance to hit up the after…session [cant quite call it a party], and
extend the dope evening til the early hours of the morning. Now this
is the type of 9-5 I can get used to. Support dope hip-hop!