Review of Talib Kweli @ The Night Before The Night Before Xmas

Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and it was freezing in The City. Twenty-three degrees to be exact. Cold enough to question ever leaving the apartment. But judging by the nearing capacity crowd packed inside and the sixty-plus people deep Will Call line dangling down the block of Manhattan’s Highline Ballroom, cold don’t mean nothing. Blacksmith Records is rocking. Twelve years following his professional debut, and heads still run deep for Talib Kweli.

In promotion for what looks to be a loaded year for Blacksmith Records — Strong Arm Steady, Jean Grae, and headliner Talib Kweli all have new albums slated for 2010 — this event doubled as a label showcase. California trio SAS jump started the show, rocking to a “what do you mean the coat checks full? Its still early!” type packed lower level, followed by a scratch-tastic DJ set courtesy of celebrated producer Pete Rock. Rock’s exclusively Golden Age (90s) spin session kept heads knocking throughout. No side conversations. Ironically, no dancing. All eyes locked on the DJ booth perched upstage center. All paying deference to the legend.

Jean Grae playfully took aim at the audience during set opener “Stick Up Dance”. “Yall spent yall’s hard earned money to come out here on a holiday and when I say dance yall can’t muthafuckin dance and when I say clap yall cant muthafuckin clap? Bullshit! We gonna try this again…This is New York, yes? Don’t embarrass me in front of my friends!” she admonished, punking the crowd into compliance.

Using the first half of her set to run through select lyrical dopeness, JG satisfied core rap fans (read: dudes) with spitfire tracks like Jeanius’ “#8” and “Think About It”, and “Style Wars” from her critically praised LP This Week. “Type of Girls’” nimble, tongue twister delivery sounded more impressive live than through ear buds, garnering audience applause as she sashayed across stage.

The set’s second half veered towards the feminine side, breezing through chick favorites like “Love Thirst”, “I Want You”, and preview cuts from her upcoming album, Cake or Death. As Jean describes it, “a lot of the album deals with a lot of relationship shit. Surprise!” Expectedly, the ladies ate up the Cake part of the show, grooving to JG while the fellas wavered, anticipating Kweli.

As far as live rap performers go, few do it better than Talib. Commanding the stage for sixty-three minutes — cycling through hits like Lance Armstrong — Kweli lyrically “flipped it like a sneaker pimp.” He covered hits from seminal album Reflection Eternal, to the certified classic Black Star, to the redeeming Eardrum, to the ubiquitous Quality — all with album clear delivery. Jean Grae and Strong Arm Steady assisted on Eardrum’s “Say Something” and “Go With Us” respectively, and the crowd erupted for surprise appearances by Joell Ortiz and Styles P. Kweli previewed two gems from his upcoming LP with Hi-Tek, Revolutions Per Minute. “Because I’m Paranoid”, a down south bounce heavy cut coerced the crowd crunk, while the sublime “In This World” kept fists pumping. If the rest of this new album comes reasonably close to the infectiousness of these two tracks, then 2010 just may be year of the Blacksmith.

Brick outside. Blazing inside. Blacksmith brought the heat to Highline Ballroom. SAS and Jean Grae provided a balanced mix of rugged and refined. And Kweli’s pristine delivery and cool B-Boy demeanor not only rocked heads, but provided a visual reminder of why he’s outlasted the last decade plus. Dope beats. Dope rhymes. Dope live show. Twenty-three degrees or otherwise, asking for anything more is straight Bernie Madoff (greedy).

More vids of this show located at www.youtube.com/justhunte:

Twas The Night Before the Night Before Christmas and the night before that……

Blacksmith Records has an early present for ya. Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady and producer extraordinare Pete Rock will all be unwrapping their skills at the Highline on December 23rd. Do we really need to say anything else? Deck the halls, spike your eggnog and come support some live Hip-Hop.

Blacksmith Presents The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
Wednesday, December 23rd, 9PM
The Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea
$15

On Tuesday night the Highline also has Jadakiss, Fiona, and just added, the Clipse. (That’s why they aren’t on the flyer.) Tickets are selling for 20 bucks and the show starts at 10.