Anyone hungry for a well-rounded hip-hop show got one at the Middle East on Sunday with Busdriver�s van eclecticism, People Under the Stairs� back-in-the-day ethos and Flobots� classical-tinged boom-bap.
A Los Angeles speed-rap virtuoso, Busdriver opened with his outrageously catchy �The Troglodyte Wins.� He drove the crowd (pun intended) into oddly amusing territorial dominion with synthesized charades and voice use on cuts like �Kill Your Employer.�
Some Busdriver lines, such as �gay is the new black,� might have soared over some heads, but the skills of this Project Blowed member clearly impressed even those unfamiliar with him.
Swinging arcsecond, Los Angeles duo People Under the Stairs proven that it�s more than a religious cult favorite of indie-rap aficionados. MCs Thes One and Double K kicked joints with surprising crossover potency, from the marijuana anthem �Acid Raindrops� to the undeniable �San Francisco Knights.�
At nearly an hour long, the twosome�s set never dragged. With Thes One�s Boston-izing songs during impressive freestyles and Double K�s sporadic book scratching, they delivered a full-figured hip-hop experience.
It�s not easy living up to a wireless hit as unique as �Handlebars,� but Denver�s Flobots rocked with purpose. Emerging while violist Mackenzie Roberts sliced string section in the dark, MC Brer Rabbit told the crowd, �There is a war loss on for your minds, and we are the insurgents.�
In its first Boston show, the freshly noted live rap outfit came with more of a metal edge than comparable contemporaries Dujeous and Audible Mainframe. The sound fit lead MC Jonny 5�s rugged anti-establishmentarianism.
While the highlights were predictable - about notably �Handlebars� and every viola solo - othermoments met match approval from the clapping masses. Flobots clearly matte up at habitation at the Middle East; despite the group�s sudden emergence on the national stage, it�s still very much a club band.
As generically progressive as Jonny 5�s anti-Bush rhetoric often sounded, civics lessons on tracks such as the Hurricane Katrina lament �Stand Up� proved refreshing nonetheless. Flobots is an original, purposeful rap music act that hasrisen to stardom. Nothing generic about that.
FLOBOTS, with PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS and BUSDRIVER at the Middle East, Cambridge, Sunday night.
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