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dis appointment

Hiphop Show Loses Headliner

…and audience’s goodwill.

Posted by: Aaron Scott and Anne Adams on Jun 07, 2011 at 11:00AM Speech Bubble 4 Comments

After a seemingly endless barrage of openers, rapper Aceyalone apparently wasn’t feeling it.

THE SETUP
Yesterday, Culturephile recommended that you catch hiphop legend Aceyalone, and asked why people in Portland seem so hiphop-show shy. Fourteen hours later, we had an answer.

Rapper Aceyalone’s show at The Crown Room drew a decent turnout—especially for a Monday night. Hippies, hipsters, and homies mingled peacefully as an R&B act warmed up the crowd, starting late and playing long. Oh well; so far, s’all good.

When the first rapper finally hit the stage, headliner Aceyalone emerged at the front of the crowd, energetically dancing and essentially hyping the little-known spitter. Then another rapper who wasn’t Acey took the stage. And another. And another. Even the show’s host wedged in a few of his own numbers while DJ’s were changing guard. Though each act dropped Acey’s name to drum up applause, none seemed particularly respectful of his time—or the fact that, past a certain point, he was no longer visible in the room. The night’s de facto headliner, beatific bay-area hipster Rashaan Ahmad, earned a roomful of nods and energetic crowd participation. But by the time he finished it was at least half past 12, and there was still one more opener to go.

THE FALLOUT
Aceyalone, the self-proclaimed “golden goose,” must have skipped out at around 1. “If I were him, by 1 a.m. I’m sure I’d be thinking ‘Well, you obviously don’t need me here,’” commented longtime local rock musician Denver Warner, and several have chimed in agreement. Indeed, musicians and fans from all concert scenes can commiserate with the situation: a popular act is dangled like a carrot in front of a waning crowd, while promoters try to drag out the downtime to boost bar sales or hype no-name support acts.

This concertgoer would have preferred to pay a $10–15 ticket price for a well-paced show, rather than an (un-refunded) $5 to spend the whole evening getting slowly drained like a sugar beet. As Aceyalone might’ve said if he’d stuck around: “Thanks, but no thanks. Pranks, or no pranks. I’m’a let them know they can’t rank.”

BETTER BETS
In the future, Culturephile will put better money on juggernauts like Soul’d Out, or count on volunteer love-fests like PDX Pop Now to come through.

For more about Portland arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

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Tags: hiphop, Aceyalone

game-changer

Aceyalone at The Crown Room

Stop dismissing hiphop, and let this veteran emcee “school” you.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Jun 06, 2011 at 11:00AM Speech Bubble 6 Comments

“I don’t like hiphop.”
How was your weekend? I spent mine inviting friends to see Aceyalone tonight at the Crown Room—and being repeatedly turned down cold. “No thanks; I don’t like hiphop,” several have said. Now, before you jump to conclusions about the company I keep *, let’s admit that in Portland, this is a familiar if regrettable refrain. But why? In a town that’s so inherently rebellious and articulate, you’d think hiphop would be the coin of the realm. After all, a good MC can cram more incendiary ideas and clever wordplay into a three-minute “flow,” than Arlo Guthrie could eek out in 18 minutes of Alice’s Restaurant. What’s not to love?

You haven’t met Aceyalone.
Detractors are quick to point out that hiphop doesn’t always deliver. Too often, hustlers, ho’s, and club-compatible, dumbed-down dance beats drown out what should be a sophisticated showcase of the spoken word. But discerning listeners need to stop throwing the proverbial babies out with the endless flood of industry bathwater. After all, if you said you didn’t like country music, you’d miss out on Willie Nelson**. If you claimed you couldn’t stand folk, you’d exclude game-changers like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. And if you broadly wave away rap and hiphop, you’ll never lend your ear to brilliant MC’s like Aceyalone.

Here are a couple tracks Acey put out in 1995, that still sounded brand-new and brilliant when I first heard them in 2007 via friends at local animation studio LAIKA. Animators—typically obsessed with creativity, novelty and craftsmanship—unsurprisingly connected with Acey’s album All Balls Don’t Bounce.

Listen up as Acey takes on the role of a teacher, patiently orienting us to basic “hip-hology,” using a mind-bending hybrid of the words “arithmetic,” “meticulous,” and “rhythm,” (and possibly even “arrhythmia”) as a manifesto for his calculating, challenging rhymes.
Now, here’s a track with more hooks than velcro. Between a piquant vibraphone loop and a soulful “uh-huh,” Acey explains how his angst propels him helplessly into the life of a poet. Deliberately departing from gangsta-thug clichés, he firmly defines himself as scholar-before-baller.

Okay, okay. This concludes the lecture. These days, the prolific Acey seems to have pulled back a bit on his pedantic rants and made peace with his place on the scene. Though he’s no household name, he’s still captured enough insider clout and attracted enough great collaborators to back up the boast that he’s “automatic at it.” Hence, let’s close with this slick submission.

Aceyalone will be at The Crown Room with Rashaan Ahmad, Theory Hazit, and the Reva Devito Band. The show starts at 9pm for a ridiculously reasonable 5 dollars. Erstwhile hiphop haters, it’s past time you came out of your comfort zone and into the flow.

For more about Portland arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

*Most of the company I keep is over 25 years of age, while younger PDX intellectuals seem way more open to hiphop acts like Tyler The Creator or Lupe Fiasco.
**Don’t miss Willie Nelson. He’ll be at McMenamins at the end of July.

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Tags: music, hiphop, Aceyalone

monday fun

Soul’d Out Festival Video Roundup

Hip-hop down memory lane with the fest’s biggest names.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Apr 04, 2011 at 10:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Good morning, and happy Monday from Rapper Ice Cube. Culturephile brings you this past-blast in honor of the artist’s upcoming gig at the Roseland —and we’ve even courteously culled the web for the swear-free MTV version. Now, Cube probably defines a “good day” a little differently than regular Culturephile readers, but whether you’re in the ’hood or at your office “cube,” we can probably all agree that things go smoother when you put away your A.K.!

Now then. Thirteen years ago, long before Esperanza Spalding ’s unexpected Grammy grab, back when the music industry and the New York skyline still seemed unshakable, another gorgeous afro-and-haltar-top-sporting twentysomething won Best New Artist for her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. This weekend Ms. Hill will headline at the Schnitz, so if you need it, take a moment to refresh your memory:

Mos Def raps, battles, acts, and sings. He kicks it with cult comedian Dave Chapelle and eccentric actor/prankster Joaquin Pheonix. He can be cocky or humble, bold or subtle. He’s basically all over the place, which is why this video seems so apropos, showing a studio full of multiple Mos’s. Which one will show up at the Roseland on the 16th? Who knows.

For more about Portland arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

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Tags: music, video, hiphop

culture cheat-sheet

White Bird presents Laboratory Dance Project

A sneak peek at a hiphop-infused modern dance piece from Seoul.

Posted by: Anne Adams on Mar 30, 2011 at 03:00PM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

The Laboratory Dance Project, a Korean troupe that makes its west-coast debut courtesy of White Bird tomorrow, is made of potent stuff. Need proof? Check out these videos of their critically-praised work No Comment.

The piece virtually bleeds with exertion, stress, and power dynamics in a fast-paced, competitive world. Note the dancers’ dress, which seems equal parts “business” and “street”—two environments where the individual must simultaneously cooperate, and perform. The unified chanting that nearly drowns out moans, seems to enforce order amid insuppressible humanity.

Meanwhile, in the movement, precise unison and pop-and-lock moves (perhaps symbolizing the well-oiled machine) are broken by the occasional fall (failure) of an individual, or an individual stepping up to dance more intensely, or to direct the show (performance/leadership). Dancers repeatedly clutch at their hearts, as if to take their own frenzied pulse, while crossing their arms across their bodies as if to literally “pull themselves together.” The visceral meets the mechanical, in a dance so taut with tension that each beat feels like an explosion.

Laboratory Dance Project will be at Lincoln Hall through April 2. For more about Portland arts events, visit PoMo’s Arts & Entertainment Calendar, stream content with an RSS feed, or sign up for our weekly On The Town Newsletter!

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Tags: Dance, white bird, modern, hiphop

Poh-Hop Tonight & Tomorrow

Posted by: Anne Adams on Jan 21, 2011 at 03:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

It’s just come to Culturephile’s attention that recent visitors to The Arts & Entertainment Calendar, may have gotten slightly short-changed by our old Poh-Hop entry. To reinforce our latest edit, we’ve posted a couple videos that show some of our locals’ best flows. Enjoy: