On Saturday, June 11th, Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver, B.C. played host to Sacramento, California’s own, Blackalicious. The fact that this was an early show with Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel taking stage at 9:15am, didn’t deter the Vancity audience from showing up and showing out! Attendees jam packed the intimate setting of Fortune Sound and easily sold the show out with fans packing the house wall to wall, making for a very hot and humid atmosphere. Joining Gift Of Gab on stage was Quannum Projects own, Lateef the Truthspeaker and of course Chief Xcel was holding down duties behind the decks and
controlling the beats. It was a nice surprise having Lateef show up and as expected, he was on point and added a boost of hype energy that the crowd responded accordingly too.
Sound wise, things got off to a bit of a rocky start as It seemed there was some trouble with the mic’s that caused everyone on stage to trade off on the microphones until Fortune eventually got it sorted out (a rare mistake as far as Fortune Sound is concerned), but Blackalicious played it kool and kept the show going like the pros they are. However as the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours” because
shortly after the mic’s were fixed, Chief Xcel ended up having a little trouble with the turntables which stalled the show momentarily. But again the diligent sound techs at Fortune quickly sorted the issues out and just like that, the party was back in full swing.
Gift Of Gab is a veteran MC and for well over a decade his microphone prowess is highly regarded as one of the best in the underground circuit, but it was clear to me and many of the people in attendance that something was not exactly right on this night. Hints of his health being not up to par was clear as they had a chair for him to sit on throughout the show, something he took advantage of several times. However with that being said, GOG still didn’t miss a beat and spit rhymes and kicked flows with ease and style, but he looked low on energy from the jump. Having Lateef there was definitely a good call, as he filled in and kept the energy high when GOG was not able too. In addition, Lateef did a few of his own songs which gave GOG the needed time to sit down and relax.
Blackalicious played all the classics, “Deception, Blazing Arrow, Shallow Days, Make You Feel That Way” and new song such as “Blacka” and “On Fire Tonight” off their new album “Imani Vol.1”. GOG made a point to mention that ‘Vol.2’ would be dropping soon and that fans should look out for that later this year. As to be expected, a Blackalicious show wouldn’t be complete without hearing the timeless banger, “Alphabet Aerobics”, which the Vancouver fans eat up like a bowl of alphabet soup (see what I did there). When Goft Of Gab eventually arrived at the letter ‘V’ of the alphabet, he chanted Vancouver about 10 times in a row getting the Vancity crowd worked up into a sweat fury.
Blackalicious come from an era of underground California rap that breed such hip hop collectives as Freestyle Fellowship, Living Legends and Abstract Tribe Unique, where if you claimed to be an MC then you better be able to drop a freestyle at any given time in a moment’s notice. This show at Fortune Sound would be no different, as each rapper on stage took a few minutes to throw down some sick freestyles, which was well received by the fans. Lateef was really going off, as he blacked out and delivered some amazing freestyles and GOG was amazing as well with his patented fast quick rhymes.
After they left jaws dropped with the freestyles, they came back on stage for a short encore and then they were done. It seemed that GOG even needed a little help getting down the stairs off the stage, so it was apparent the show took its toll on his health. We sincerely hope that for the most part things are good with Gift Of Gab and that this apparent health issue is just a temporary speed bump on the road to long lasting recovery.
Words:
Ronan Considine and John Zee
Photos:
Ronan Considine