When EPMD dropped “Its My Thing”
I said damn I gotta get up in this rap game —“Da Da DaHHH” by Redman
This past Friday I had the great privilege of catching the legendary Hit Squad reunion show at the Best Buy Theater right off Time Square. The Hit Squad being one of the premier hip hop crews back in the early ’90s. Although I had gone to the concert to see the Funk DoctaSpock, Reggie Noble, it quickly became apparent that the audience and I were in for a real all-night treat of such prominent Hit Squad associated acts as the solid K-Solo (aka Wolfgang Murder Mouth), the frenetic Das EFX, the animated spitfire Keith Murray, and a reunited Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith—better known as the extraordinary EPMD.
The entire night was seamlessly propelled forward by the incredibly skilled DJ Scratch, and the format was amazing: The acts continuously rotating, overlapping, and serving as each other’s hypeman. Perhaps the most enthusiastic hypeman that evening was surprise guest Method Man, who popped on stage to accompany Redman on their hit “Da Rockwilder” off of their 1999 collaborative album Blackout!. Once the song was over, Meth made his way to the wings where he urged the crowd to cheer on the momentous occasion happening on stage.
The best moment of the night had to be the show-closing performance of EPMD’s 1992 single “Head Banger” off their fourth album, Business Never Personal. Reminiscent to a classic Yo! MTV Raps episode, this performance brought about roughly twenty heads out on stage, all together in a show of true camaraderie that perfectly encapsulated the sentiments of the entire evening.
I could go on for days about each performer—each bringing their all to the stage—but for me personally it was truly amazing to see the always charismatic Redman live on the mic…what can I say? The guy just lights up the room with that mischievous grin of his.
You can watch a bunch more videos from this show over at RapRadar
And click below so you can listen to just one small reason why Redman will always remain one of my favorite rappers of all time, as he does more with a minute-and-fifty-six seconds than most could accomplish on a full-length LP.
Redman live at Best Buy Theater, NYC (2012, Feb 24). Photo courtesy of The Great Zeee
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Like it? Buy it.
——————————————————————————–BOBBY CALERO
Ref:
EPMD, K-Solo, & Redman (2012) (Creators). Toneriggz (Poster) (2012, Feb 24). EPMD, K-Solo & Redman- Head Banger @ Best Buy Theater, NYC [Video] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OwDzpBxumQ&feature=player_embedded
Method Man & Redman (2012) (Creators). Toneriggz (Poster) (2012, Feb 24). Method Man & Redman- Da Rockwilder @ Best Buy Theater, NYC [Video] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdq1f3KEVI&feature=player_embedded
Noble, R., Sermon, E., Clinton Jr., G., Curry, T. (2001). Diggy Doc [recorded by Redman] On Malpractice [CD] Def Jam. (2001)
Redman (2012) (Creator). Dimar672 (Poster) (2012, Feb 26). Redman- I’ll Bee Dat & Da Goodness [Video] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uywgdst3I&feature=related
A Mouthful of Pennies 