Hieroglyphics, Little Brother, Encore & Z-Man

From the energy level of all the artists on the Full Circle tour, you would never have guessed that this was the 42nd stop, on a 44-city tour. Despite the tour bus that was transporting Little Brother and the King of Gurp City, Z-Man, breaking down somewhere, the show was a non-stop, high powered showcase of some of the best hip-hop to roll through Chico, California, in a while.
Frisco representative Z-Man was first to hit the stage. I guess I’m a little biased, but for real, there is no rapper in the existence of hip-hop as we know it that has a style remotely close to Z. Once Z hits the stage it’s like reality ceases and everyone in ear range enters his cartoon world. As many times as I’ve seen him it never gets old, and on this particular night he was at his best. With a bulletproof 15 minute set he ran through soon-to-be classics from his upcoming album Dope or Dogfood which drops this January, and his merch album The Anti-Nerd. So yeah, basically Z killed it and set the tone for the rest of the night.
Next up to rock was Encore, and my time to cop a drink. I caught the last 10 minutes of his set, and dude is the real deal. Another Bay Area native himself, Encore didn’t quite have the energy of his predecessor, but he definitely did his thing. I wasn’t familiar with any of his material, but was still able to feel the vibe, and it wasn’t the liquor. His second album Layover is dropping real soon so be sure to keep an ear to the ground.
With no intermission Little Brother took the stage. I’ve been hearing that Little Brother live is straight bananas, and they definitely put truth to these rumors. The South Carolina duo of Big Pooh and Phonte kept the crowd hype the entire time and never lost focus. They played every song that you would want to hear from their debut The Listening, and even broke into a beautiful rendition of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.” These cats embody everything good in hip-hop, and are definitely going to be here for a while.
Around midnight the almighty Hieroglyphics took stage to a sea of “that guys,” underground fiends and beautiful women. Every member was intact, and Del seemed relatively sober, which made this show one of the most memorable Hiero shows I’ve seen. In support of their new album Full Circle the eight-man crew went through all the hits, past and present. Pep Love rocked the banger “Crooked Angles,” Casual got the crowd jumping with “Get Down,” Souls Of Mischief knew the time when they played their classic “93’ Till Infinity,” and Del spit every word of “Clint Eastwood” off the Gorillaz album.
Every rapper was at their best on this particular night, and showed no sign of fatigue. I enjoyed every minute of the show, and thanks to the passion and energy of every artist I realized just how much I love hip-hop. Peace to Big Bob for getting a player in.

– Corey Bloom
– Photo by Jeff Shaner

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