STILL DIGABLE?

Last night I attended a concert which headlined the group Digable Planets, one of the first hip-hop groups that I became interested in. I still consider their album, Reachin', one of my favorites of all time. The combination of jazz, funk and smooth lyrical flow has entranced me since I opened my ears to the trio.

Unfortunately, a few things have changed. I felt that 2/3 of the trio was spot-on from a vocalization/rhythm/flow perspective, but Butterfly was lacking. His voice used to be the most velvety of the group, but now it sounds as if he's just smoked an entire pack of Marlboro cigs. Such a change. I admire his showmanship at the very least. He seemed to enjoy what he was doing, albeit 10 years past the group's prime. Aside from that, my main complaint would have to be the sound quality in the venue, The Independent. The microphones were saturated the whole time, there was some unnecessary feed-back and some moments that appeared to cause some eye-rolling from the band members themselves. Not only this, but the start was delayed a bit while they were working out some equipment malfunctions and microphone problems.

The shining star has got to be Ladybug Mecca. She's adorable up there on stage with her chill, smiling presence. Her voice is as sexy as ever with a high-pitched bouncy drawl. I solidify her as my favorite female MC in the industry. She destroys all the competition. I'm interested in hearing some tracks from her solo venture, Trip the Light Fantastic. Here's a nice picture of her.

Aside from this, Doodlebug was impressive and has the same voice and flow that he always had. He seemed to be having a lot of fun as well, smiling and joking in the back when he wasn't at front stage. The band was also very talented and worked their ass off! Props to them.

Digable was a force and they continue to be entertaining so many years after their Grammy winning days. I don't regret attending this performance at all.

Sidenotes:

-X-Clan was fun to watch, but not to listen to. The gyrational flag-waving rasta dancer was hilarious at first, but then his shtick got old. Also, their security detail reminded me of a Black Panther version of the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace. He stood their as a giant stationary muscle, ready to kill whoever dare climb on stage or insult the clan.

-Lateef the Truthspeaker was technically awesome. That guy can flow. I'm very interested in picking up some of his work, and his DJ was very talented as well, spinning the digital turntables and scratching with ease. Lateef is way underrated and I think he deserves to be a headliner if he keeps up the work. The quality of his performance was better than all the other artists on stage that night.

-DJ Zeph is a stocky, bearded white dude who can spin the turntables. His selection of old-skool hip-hop beats was refreshing and his scratching was extremely tight.