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Searching for Higher Ground and I Found...Blueprint at Antioch College! (Yellow Springs, OH; 12.04.04)Dec 07 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line over metal mics, tight graffiti, heinekens, and skinny blunts, we toasted real hip-hop.
ANTIOCH COLLEGE BOOTCAMP for the REVOLUTION Education, Responsibility, & Action = Change In red screen-printed letters on a black cotton canvas, this was the slogan of the short sleeved t-shirt I donned to the party of the living. A concert that was the vibrant definition of what it means to be a hip-hop show. In a student union of a 700 person hippie, progressive school that doesn't merely celebrate diversity and talk about good deeds, but rather lives diversity and performs good deeds, I stood. It's hard to tell whether they live in a box of impossible optimism or if the majority of the rest of us live in a box of cynicism which tells us everything great is impossible, but it was an experience to enjoy; the type of place I needed to see, if only to prove to me that, in this world, there are people and institutions who seek a better tomorrow. - - - - - Of course, I came to Antioch because I had been neglecting to visit my little sister, Kari, for months. She called me about a week before the concert and made me feel near guilty as she said, "you should come visit me; Blueprint's coming and it's going to cost you three dollars." I felt like I was being bribed, but I stopped caring about that after I slowly went over this in my mind. Three dollars to see Blueprint. Pick up the Blueprint CDs I've been wanting, for cheap. See Antioch College, which I had been wanting to do. Visit Kari, which is most important and something I had kept saying I would do. The no-brainer of no-brainers was offered to me. Less than a week later, I journeyed to this little city of Yellow Springs, 50 miles west of Columbus, to drink beers and talk revolution. As fun and interesting as everything was, the various activities felt like biding time to see Blueprint. That's mainly because it's not like there's much to do in Yellow Springs. Sit up late in my sisters tenement-err-dorm room, watch a bunch of trippin', and/or stoned, and/or drunk people philosophize late at night- a major product of boredom. The setting was cool, with awesome pictures drawn all over the walls, anti-Bush propaganda everywhere you looked, and people with real ideals and plans for action; it's just devoid of activity during the usual night-life hours. There were no real cool bars or clubs to go to, or anything really, so they had to create their own fun, which was usually some class or organization getting a concert/party going on in the upstairs of the union. Blueprint was the diversion this weekend. Everyone, get up, it's time for the Higher Ground hip-hop show! - - - - - HIGHER GROUND HIP-HOP SHOW SATURDAY DECEMBER 4th, 2004 ANTIOCH COLLEGE STUDENT UNION PRE-GAME! PRE-GAME! The setting for the show was almost surreal; it was a scene of a hip-hop party, not really a formal show. The area designated for events such as this was decked out in graffiti murals that look like they've been pulled straight off of the streets of New York City, with cheap lighting and a dirty lounge look and feel of the place- it just had a hip-hop atmosphere. On top of that, you could just bring in your own 6-pack, bottle, blunt, or whatever. It's like that secret room in your house that you always wish you had. Just jump in the closet and there you are! We got there way before the concert was to start so I got a good chance to look over the merch and pick up the "Weightless B Sides vol. 1: Blatant Battle Raps" and Greenhouse Effect's "Up to Speed EP" that had been eluding me. $8 for LPs, $5 for EPs; can't beat that. We sat on the bench alongside the stage and bided our time to some very ill DJing as the likes of Common and Nas blessed the airwaves, enthusing the crowd that was slowly congregating. From the get-go you felt as if you were at an event that you wished you could transport everyone you know to. It immediately gave off that feeling of uniqueness; something special was brewing. Then in came the man. You know him as Blueprint. But really, it's just Al. When I went up to say hi, it ended up being a half-hour conversation about hip-hop and school. We got deep into talking about the creation process and I bounced some opinions off of him about what his friends in the business were doing, such as Vast Aire, Illogic, and others. He was quite honest and candid, though I'm not one to broadcast his views over the internet. He was also really funny, as we joked over the hardcore sexual offender policy (SOPP; you basically have to ask someone to touch them), while we watched all these students carrying around beer and weed. I suppose us outsiders just didn't get it. That's OK though; the energy was starting to build up and I wished him luck (or said, "rip it!"; whichever) and got my butt up to the stage for the show. ACT 1: THE BIRTH OF A NEW TALENT IN THE COLUMBUS UNDERGROUND? ACT 2: HYPE WITHOUT A CAUSE The first couple of acts were local cats who were deal-less, just looking for some love. The first emcee to grace the two-inch elevated wooden performing block was from Wittenberg College and his set was excellent for a guy who is pretty new to the scene. He was your basic street rapper who was trying to make a better life for himself, either through education or hip-hop. I'd say that he should seriously pursue hip-hop given how well he handled himself, especially in the face of a crowd who was more or less waiting for Print to get on stage. He busted a hot freestyle, gave the b-boys plenty of space (breaking was off the chain during the show), all while making us feel his words. His beats were even pretty hot as he rode the new trend of soul sampling quite nicely. He ultimately gave back more love than he was given, but that happens when you start out. The second act was straight-up hype. It reminded me of watching Kid 'n Play rip a mic at a house party in (what else?) the "House Party" movies. This dude was emceeing for sure, but he wasn't really all that skilled. Instead, he called for all the b-boys to get up to the stage and the breaking was hectic as he kicked his simple rhymes over old-school breakbeats. You would never imagine that a bearded-up, hair all over the place, hippie student would own the break-dancing. But whatever, this is Antioch. Ultimately, I didn't feel that the performer was trying much to break out with this music; he was just trying to make things fun. Nothing wrong with that. But after that, it was the moment we'd all been waiting for. Yes... THE MAIN ACT: WHERE TALENT AND PASSION INTERSECT, WE HAVE BLUEPRINT w/ DJ RARE GROOVE Let's face it, when you're a local seedling waiting to bust out and you're opening for another local artist who just happens to be breaking out, you're lucky to get any sunlight at all. I could go over this man's whole resume or just tell you that when you talk underground hip-hop and say "Blueprint", people know who he is or they just don't know. When Blueprint jumped on stage, the room suddenly started filling, like where did all of these people come from? As he walked back and forth around the stage, warming up to Soul Position's "Survival", the energy just started to boil over. The people of Antioch College have great passion for art and live music so this was of no surprise. You ever heard the term, "it's about to jump off?" This moment is the precise example of that. Print's set was basically the same Soul Position set he ran on the Plague On Wheels Tour, which I caught in Washington D.C. The difference was that he fed off this much higher energy and what was already a great routine turned into a super-charged set. When he did "Inhale", the folks were screaming "inhale!" on the hook as if they were trying to blow the performer back. When we dipped on this really b-boyish, old-school, unreleased track, everyone was dropping, causing a really cool looking scene. Even on songs where no little crowd control tactics were used, Print held the crowd's attention like keys to a Lexus on songs such as the dirty-to-death "Time Management" or "Run" (over the Pharcyde's "Runnin'", which is too beautiful). The synergy was incredible; who needs drugs when you can be in the middle of this? It was also really cool how Blueprint was loving my energy in the front as I recited every word to his music. He playfully scolded me for calling out to "dip" before he could explain what to do on the last number. "Shhh, don't ruin this! Haha" (to paraphrase). He had me throw my CDs up and told me to convince the people they needed some Blueprint in their collection. Then, on "Alchemy", he threw the mic in my face to do Aesop Rock's part in his verse ("Blueprint what's your approach?!"). That probably has nothing to do with reviewing the concert, but it's always cool when you feel you've been minorly incorporated into something so sweet 'n memorable. It's worth noting that Blueprint had to get super-PC during his set and edit some stuff out, namely, his poetry number. I called out for it during the show, but he was like, "no poetry tonight!" It's basically two poems about appreciating fat and skinny girls; a satire on the so-called "poet emcees" who are growing in numbers in the underground scene. Considering the vast number of hippie lesbians at the concert, Print probably would have been burned at the stake. It definitely wouldn't have been pretty. Anyhow, despite the altered show, it was still a resounding success which exceeded any expectation I could have placed on it. People bobbed their heads and moved in the emotions of Soul Positions "1 Love" (over Nas's "One Love"; another genius mash-up). They got crazy to the adrenaline boost of "Final Frontier". And when it was all said and done, it seemed as even those who weren't so big on hip-hop (which, admittedly, seems like the majority of Antioch), had themselves one hell of a time. As he said his "peace" to the crowd and took off after about an hour of rocking the mic, the crowd threw all that love back and more. It's not like the party would end here, though. Nooooooo. These people at Antioch had a better idea, which I wish was employed at more shows I go to: "we're having fun, so why stop now?!" POST-GAME! POST-GAME! Unfortunately, there wasn't much post-game for me. Kari had already taken off for the dorm and I knew nobody. I went over and chilled with Al for a while, talking about how excellent that show went and how he was ready for phase two: meeting the ladies. It didn't take long and I'll just leave it at that. A free-style free-for-all had kicked off as I was exiting. It was nine beers later and I was ready for some classic dorm-room snacks, smokes, and incoherent socializing. As I laid myself to bed that night, an hour later, with the bass still pumping out of the student union, I couldn't help but smile as this hippie-hop world faded into the back of my mind. Then, the next day, it was still there, playing over again. The making of memories... * * * * * * * * * * For more information about Cryptic Cradle and his reviews, please click here. * * * * * * * * * * Written by Cryptic Cradle for Spike-A-Delic Productions.  |
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