It's Bigger Than Hip Hop

I am officially exhausted from this past weekend. I ended up destroying my regular sleep routine due to the NXNE madness. While I was happy to watch many of my friends play (shout outs to Action Makes, Drunk Woman and Another Blue Door!) I was the most excited for the free De La Soul show at Yonge-Dundas Square. Unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing. A lot of it had to do with the lame audience. People brought baby strollers and their dogs which made it hard for die hard fans to bum rush the stage and show their appreciation for such a legendary group. There was some hand waving and the occasional fist pump here and there but it was pretty pathetic and De La Soul definitely noticed. They kept stopping and restarting songs in an attempt to garner more energy from the crowd but it just wasn't happening, no matter how many times they screamed, "Come on party people!" Mind you, they did have to contend with the MMVA's taking place near by and sadly kids these days would rather see Justin Bieber and Drake. Anyhow, some highlights of the night for me included seeing one of my favourite DJ's Skratch Bastid in the crowd. I've met him in the past and he's a real nice guy, but I was too nervous to say hello this time around...Another highlight was when De La Soul gave props to local hip hoppers Kardinal Offishall and Choclair. I missed this part of the show but apparently Kardinal was hanging out beside the stage and poked his head out a few times but quickly disappeared. Too bad he didn't join them to drop a verse or two. And speaking of Kardinal, my other favourite DJ Willis (who also happens to my brother) is opening up for him this weekend in Timmins.
Hopefully the Timmins audience will know how to show their appreciation for some real hip hop and leave their fucking babies at home. On that note, here's an oldie but a goodie from 2004.