From EPMD to Backyard, the CIAA Gives Fans the Business

The normal Charlotte hip-hop crowd skews woefully young, as in Young Jocs and Jeezys. Yet, with the art form now more than 30 years old, give or take a few years depending on how far you lived from the Bronx, it stands to reason that there more than a few adult hip-hop heads who aren't getting any live show love.

That's where Charlotteans should take a break from building banks and trains to thank the CIAA for choosing our fair city to host the annual historically black college tourney. This year's event brought no fewer than 80 different parties and live music venues. Chief among them were many notable hip-hop shows that went light on the pop and heavy on the grown and sexy.

Friday night's EPMD show brought together two of the architect's of the New York sound as they reunite after more than seven years apart. Erik Sermon and Parrish Smith (EPMD), now Queen city residents, brought a stripped down show to Amos' Southend that delighted fans who remember walkmans and boomboxes. The crowd was set with free, classic style fisherman caps distributed to some in attendance by the promoters, courtesy of Crown Royal. Light on the bling and dressed in requisite old school gutter wear - Timberland boots and black hoodies - the brothers in rhyme ripped through memorable joints from "You Gots to Chill" to "So What Ya Sayin" to "Please listen to my demo".

Still energetic with solid voices not marred by, uh, "extra-curricular" activities Erik and Parrish skimmed over a few classics as called out by the audience. However, no one could be disappointed as they made time for unannounced guests Kid Capri and Keith Murray to hit the stage.

A pioneer in beat breaks and the now ubiquitous hip-hop mix tape, Kid Capri joined DJ Scratch as Scratch made the turn tables wobble but not fall down. Capri also spoke to the crowd and signed autographs like a soldier, but it was Keith Murray who brought a manic energy to the crowd. With a limited hit list, Keith nonetheless hit the high notes of "The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World" and some of his lesser-known remix appearances. He also brought the head-bangers ball classic - bodysurfing - to this mainly urban crowd.

Surprisingly the crowd kept Keith from hitting the ground but the same couldn't be said for those of us in the audience who got caught between his enthusiasm and his very large bodyguard's commitment to keeping him safe. But no one seemed mad at the crowd crush as the show wound to a close. It did, however, require me to leave before the world's greatest entertainer, Doug E. Fresh, hit the stage for what I have heard was a perfect close to a b-boy night.

The next night the old school vibe continued as area promoter Soul Kitchen, or "Kitch" as those of us in the know call him, presented legendary party maestro DJ Biz Markie and DC go-go favorites the Backyard Band.

This crowd started bigger and surpassed the one at the previous night's show, proving that girls like to dance and dudes like to watch. Still "no one beats the Biz", as Biz Markie did what so few new DJs do anymore: he read the crowd and mixed the music just right to keep them guessing and engaged.

There were few people holding up the walls as the Biz ripped through hip-hop classics like "Tramp" from Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy Number One from PE back before Flav sold his soul to the Viacom devil, and even the soul classics that gave hip-hop some of the illest beat breaks in history (read: the entire James Brown catalogue).

The crowd was perfectly amped as Biz transitioned them straight into the percussion driven beats of The Backyard Band.

I saw more than one pair of too cute stiletto heels hit the floor as women decided the beat was too fly to stand still. Those of us who have witnessed a D.C. go-go came prepared in comfy shoes with traction. The band hit the stage and the crowd swelled towards the speakers trying, it seemed, to crawl inside the soul-rattling beat that makes go-go a regional favorite.

By the end of the night the floor was drenched as were the partygoers and not nary a soul looked unsatisfied.

I spoke with promoter Kitch before the night drew to a sweaty close and he looked satisfied with both the age of the crowd and the turnout. When asked if we would have to wait until next year to see another grown hip-hop event he smiled and offered this little bit of news: Nas. Hip Hop is Dead tour. Only Charlotte appearance, Wednesday, April the 11^th, also at Amos' Southend.

That's music to the ears for those of us who grew up on MCs and time tested battle rhymes.

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