dallaspenn.com

Mel D. Cole on the lens…

Combat Jack made sure that Peter Oasis left me a ticket to watch the Blackstar performance at Nokia, er, BestBuy Theatre on Saturday. The show was packed wall to wall and there were actually Black folks at this concert. You’d be fair to expect a good amount of white at this show too since Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) are two of the artists who people proudly rock their backpacks to represent.

The show ran late as I expected since there was a second performance scheduled for after midnight. Local celebrity deejay Envy warmed up the crowd initially before turning over the reigns to Blackstar’s set DJ, J-Rock. The moments of reminiscing going on in these deejay sets almost wore me out to the point I was ready to leave before the featured performers hit the stage.

The amount of music produced within the rap genre over the past 30 years is a stunning collage of the American dream as told thru the words of predominantly young Black men. This shit is our dreams and aspirations and even our fears all wrapped up in a bassy soundbed. Blackstar would be a perfect bookend to the whole rap genre as Talib continues to rappity rap his way thru songs while Yasiin Bey harmonizes and dancehall chants and then maybe raps for a verse or two. Over the course of my life I think I’ve seen these two artists perform together and separately more than any other artists. Whether with the Roots, or at the charity Black August shows or on their own sets I’ve never been disappointed by these artists and Saturday was nothing different. Maybe that was the problem…

I’ve seen so many tremendous sets from these two performers that I’m almost disappointed when they don’t do something mindblowing at every show. Where’s Common. Where’s KanYe? Where’s Q-Tip? Why can’t I simply be satisfied with Blackstar, whose lone album still ranks as possibly the zenith of the genre built on rolling hyperbole? I don’t know what my problem is now because I danced and rapped and clapped and rhymed all the way thru the set. Maybe I’m just indicative of a fanbase who has become spoiled from all the hype?

Go see Blackstar when they are in your town and reminisce on the time when rap music was so new and fresh and unpretentious in your mind.