Aceyalone, Azeem, Ill-Adapted & E-train

First off, I would like to say that all venues, hip-hop or not, should take notes from Scratch 8 in old town Sac. They let in females for free before 10, which created a situation that contained the most women I had ever seen at a hip-hop show. Hella ladies + hip-hop = happy dudes. First up was a jam band that played some hip-hop cover songs. I didn't catch their name, but it's all good, 'cause they were kinda wack. The next act was E-train. he was more or less on the gangsta' tip, but he proved himself nonetheless. This shirtless performer seemed to keep the attention of the females in the audience, yet everyone else just waited patiently for Aceyalone
Every so often, when a rap group can find a good blend between conscious lyrics and hardcore raps, it turns out lovely, and that's just the case with Ill-Adapted. This foursome was a very pleasant addition to the show's lineup. They gave the crowd 110 percent during their set, and their performance was very well accepted.
At this point, when rapper Azeem took stage, I was tired of standing and waiting so I decided to go in the back where I could sit and still observe the stage show. Azeem was alright. It was obvious by his by his freestyles that he is skilled on the mic, but he was the fool who rocked over past, well-known bangers and was just a little too crazy hype for all us white kids (emphasis on crazy). You know how concerts drag out sometimes, and you just think to yourself, "Fuck, I wish the headliner would just come out and play"? That was the general vibe in the place.
So with all eyes on him, what did Aceyalone do? He ripped it. He came out with DJ Drez and an unknown hypeman. Sporting a microphone in each hand, one for vocals and the other for echo backup vocals, Aceyalone brought the house down. Performing a nice balance between old-school favorites and new-school gems, Aceyalone seemed to satisfy every over crowded audience members imaginable play list. "Mic Check," "Cornbread" and "Five Feet" were among the dozens of songs performed. The moment that stuck out most in my mind was when DJ Drez threw on a well-known break that got the crowd excited - you could tell by the classic hip-hopper arm wave. Aceyalone ripped through a freestyle that was so well accepted that DJ Drez started the record over and Aceyalone ran through the beat again, the crowd still enjoying every second. To me, it's ill when a DJ will just start the record over; no bullshit mix or sample, he knew that the audience and Ace were feeling the beat so he just picked up the needle and started the record again. For being a reggae-looking, deadlocked hippie, Drez impressed me - quality mixing and scratching. Aceyalone made the concertgoers smile and have a good time until 2 AM when he was forced to stop, though it seemed that he and the crowd were ready for another hour or so.
- words and photos by Paul Davis

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