Word Of Mouth Tour

Had you asked me a few years back, perhaps on a return trip from the Bay to see a real hip-hop show, I’d have told you that last Saturday’s CSU Chico’s Rose Garden concert would never happen. Three years ago, who the hell could’ve ever imagined that one of the world’s greatest freestylers (Supernatural, whose freestyle skills are truly unmatched), members of one of the world’s most revered DJ collectives (The Beat Junkies, who boast more than a half dozen World and US Champions among their ranks), and two of hip-hop’s strongest, most respected crews (Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5, two groups whose skills are legendary but whose fame is just now on the rise) would be appearing en masse at Chico State?

I sat on the back of the Rose Garden stage pondering the sheer gravity of the youthful crowd I saw gathering in front of the stage, thinking that this was the first show of its kind in Chico — a hip-hop event attended by nearly 1,700 people. Providing the soundtrack to my thought process were the Beat Junkies’ Shortkut and Babu, trading licks on two sets of turntables positioned at the rear of the stage. The interaction between the two old-schoolers was effortless. Shortkut, a member of the Bay Area’s Invisibl Sktrach Piklz as well as a Beat Junkie, is, as they say in the old circles, down by law. His chops are known far and wide, and this evening he was mixing and cutting up some sweet old soul, laying classic beat foundations and throwing all kinds of cool shit into the mix. Babu, OG Beat Junkie and Dilated’s DJ, stood parallel to Shortkut and mirrored his movements, but not his sounds. Babu’s style is more thuggish, low-down and hard, while Short can really get into the rump-shakin’ vibe; the duality in turntable tricks was a nice balance, and good way to start the evening.

MC Supernatural gained fame on the battle circuit, and has a super-human gift of gab. Evidence: the infamous battle against MC Juice on the Wake Up Show’s Ninth Anniversary album, in which Supernat ripped Juice so hard, all nine judges voted unanimously for the skilled wordsmith. He’s also been on the Stretch, Bobbito and Lord Sear show at New York’s Hot97 FM, where he rapped about the Dog Pound, taking on the vocal persona of the Dog Pound’s members, perfectly mimicking each LA gangsta’ rapper’s voice. At Chico State, in front of a teeming crowd of kids, Supernatural — backed by Shortkut and J5 DJ Cut Chemist — kicked live impromptu rhymes, at one point jumping into the photo pit and asking the people to give something out of their pockets to rap about; he read names off drivers’ licenses, reminded folks about using condoms and accepted (perhaps against the owner’s irrelevant wishes) a bag of herbal treats, which he promised to enjoy later. After one of the tightest freestyle rhyme sessions I’ve heard in a long time, Supernatural gave the stage up to J5’s Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist, who kicked a 15-minute set, a combination of breaks, unique (and trademark scientific) loops and samples, and plenty of funky scratching and wicked record wrecking.

Though many kids were in the house to check J5, Dilated Peoples was the crew I was really looking forward to. I’ve been a fan of Rakaa (Iriscience), Dilated’s afro-topped MC and hip-hop renaissance man, since I first heard him rhyme a few years back. I’ve since been introduced to the cold steel precision of MC Evidence’s raps, and when I first heard the duo perform with Babu, I was blown away by the way Rakaa and Ev’s lyrical styles were so completely compatible with the DJ’s turntable techniques. Both lyricists have dope rhyme styles; both retain a sharp edge and solid center that keeps things grounded in the tenets of real hip-hop while inventive raps and intelligent points show their creativity and poise.

Babu, before joining Dilated, was strictly a battle DJ who made a name for himself battling for money, fame or some sucka’s mixer. His battle-hardened style on the decks is obvious, dropping heavy-duty beats with minimal melodic accompaniment, and executing furious scratching sessions that perplex the aural senses. His learned ability to apply those techniques into a group situation was obvious last Saturday night, and the MCs’ appreciation of their DJ was also obvious — lyrics of praise were contained in many songs, and they dropped a quick quiz on the crowd: What’s the backbone of hip-hop? Answer: The DJ.

The three-man crew mostly rocked songs off their debut Capitol records release, The Platform. Some, like "Triple Optics" and "Work The Angles," are old Dilated classics while new songs like "Service," "The Platform" and "Ear Drums Pop" are newer numbers; all were quick crowd favorites. Dilated also treated the audience to "Soundbombing" off the Soundbombing II, compilation and kicked some fresh freestyles, one about Rakaa’s new Chico State T-shirt that set off all the kids in the outdoor venue. Another DJ set kept the crowd interested until the evening’s headliners hit the stage.

Jurassic 5’s style definitely leans towards the pop-y, party side of things, more so than those of the evening’s other performers, and J5’s success in that arena may be inherent to the group’s line up. A crew featuring two DJs and four MCs has a expansive breadth of musical ground open to them, and J5 utilizes all they can, creating rich musical compositions and complex but friendly lyrical patterns that put them in the performance realm of some classic R&B groups—slightly choreographed movements, interludes of singing and an attention to detail of performance. Don’t get me wrong, J5 still has all the hip-hop credibility of a group with old-school Los Angeles underground roots: all five MCs have mad skills, and both DJs have made names for themselves as top-notch turntable artists. Seeing them live, however, is proof positive that they revere the old masters, and that their sound is as good as gold when it comes to the dreaded ‘hip-hop to pop’ crossover. Hopefully they can maintain that balance.

Folks in the front row sang along with the headliners on new tracks like "Improvise," "Jurass Finish First" and "Quality Control," as well as a few old school favorites, like "Concrete Schoolyard," which featured a kazoo breakdown. J5’s showmanship shone through the entire time, all five MCs taking turns on the mic at the front of the stage and both DJs getting busy.

The show ended with a massive freestyle session lead off by Dilated’s Rakaa and Ev, followed by Supernatural and then by each member of J5. It was a toasting session of epic proportions, each MC kickin’ it live — except for J5’s Chali 2na, who ended his turn on the mic with "man, that was bad," laughing at his own expense. But hey, not every MC can be on point every night, and despite his flubbed freestyle attempt, Chali came across as the crowd’s favorite.

At the evening’s end, a show that was unthinkable a few years ago had occurred, and had been a smashing success. Chico State’s AS Presents had pulled off a real, big-time hip-hop show, representative of several styles of the two elements of hip-hop culture: MCing and DJing. From the strictly freestyle rhymes of Supernat to the hardcore hip-hop of Dilated to the pop-tinged flavor of J5; from the booty-licious turntable turns of Shortkut to Babu’s battle scratches to the next-level vinyl noodling of Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist, the Word of Mouth Tour was by far the strongest hip-hop show Chico has ever seen.

I just hope that this kind of local interest in hip-hop continues, and wasn’t simply confined to Chico State’s Rose Garden. There’re plenty of hip-hop events in Chico, and just because they’re not all as big as Word of Mouth doesn’t mean they aren’t worth checking out. Of course, that hasn’t stopped fools from sleeping on them before, and as rapper Nas once said, sleep is the cousin of death. Support your local hip-hop scene.

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