'Nuff Respect

Damn yo, this is hard, real hard... First I just wanted to put down the pics... Cause if y'all missed this, y'all missed one of the dopest jams of the year so far. I wanna start off giving props to One B-Boy System, Redrum, Itz getting Draztik Ent. and Nighttown, it almost looks like they are bringing HipHop parties back to life in Rotterdam.

Rotterdam's audience has become infamous for it's cool attitude, or let me put it different, too cool attitude; empty dance floors at jams, everybody with their backs against the wall checking out the other people around instead of wilding out at a jam. But for the last couple of months this attitude seems to have been fading away, the floors are filled, people aren't hesitating to show that they're having fun and parties are real parties again.

Keep 'Em On The Floor

Last time I was at a Redrum party it was the HipHop Summit with Draztik Measurez, Shabazz and Freestyle and a b-boy battle, and that was a great jam, so once again the same formula was used this night; some of the best DJ's in Rotterdam, like Cut Nice, Mike Redman and Draztik's Code Red, used the 1's and 2's to keep the crowd busy, with each DJ bringing their own style; from break beats to the more recent tracks. I have only seen a few jams in Rotterdam where the floor was filled early, so when Draztik MC Mystic Xperienz, the night's host, came onstage to explain the audience why the DJ's were spinning the hot tracks, the heads gathered on the floor and finally showed appreciation for the music.

So when the B-Boy battle started the crowd was already hyped up for the music to come. A two-on-two battle like we have seen earlier, these young cats showed some ill moves and brought another element to the night. I'm not really an expert when it comes to breaking, but I think these breakers had quite some potential.

Next up were O-Wan-O, like the name says this group is from the Docks aka Rotterdam. Consisting of 3 ill MC's and a producer, who also kicked some. It's nice to see the Docks are coming up, and it's becoming evident on nights like this. Crowd movers, unlike some of their American counterparts who couldn't move the audience (and that was not always because of the crowd) in the past. It's great to see that there's so much good music coming up and that the audience is showing more respect for good shows than they've been doing in the past.

Warm It Up

But I think most people would agree with me when I state that most people especially came over to check the one and only Smooth Operator (and no, I'm not talking about Sade). So when his DJ Tigger (I guess Mr. Cee is busy making mix tapes nowadays) announced the one and only, the crowd went pandemonium; once again. Strutting onto the stage, clad in a leather overall came the Kane. He's still the Big Daddy, one can tell only by looking at his face. Ice cold no emotion, only his eyes show a trace of fun; something he evidently still has doing shows like this.

This man has so much experience the whole show was one long-ass, but too short medley of classic shit, from Raw to newer material. A well planned but still a very smooth show without falling back on too evident rehearsed performing. At one time he stopped the performance to show respect to 'the fallen soldiers'. He didn't give them a moment of silence like he did before but he had a moment of noise. The DJ brought in the best know tracks by deceased artists like Biggie, Big Pun, 2Pac, Freaky Tah of the Lost Boyz and last but not least Big L, with who he has a track on Big L's posthumous masterpiece "The Big Picture". After Tigger spinned Big L's verse from "Platinum Plus" BDK followed it up with his own verse, evidently a part of the whole show without having to interrupt the whole flow.

I Get The Job Done

But what is a HipHop show with out freestyles? You know when Kane pics up the mic, he has so much experience he can freestyle about anything, he can go on for a lil while. That's just what he did. The not so young but still gifted and black MC ain't got no reason to be calling Mr. Welfare; he is still better than 99.9% of today's MC's. At one point asking: "Yo, do y'all have any requests for me? I'll kick whatever you want", getting a response from one member of the crowd, who clearly knows how to uses Napster "Yo do 'The man; the Icon'" (a unreleased track by Kane with production by the Alchemist), causing Kane to laugh: "Yo man that shit ain't even supposed to be on the streets yet, how do you know that track, we just recorded it last month".

As Datwon Thomas from XXL magazine stated: "Skills intact. All cylinders clicking." And this show only proves that statement to be nothing but the truth, I can't wait for his new album to drop. People who think Kane has had it best time; don't trip. Kane can drop a mic at every show he does, and STILL look good.

Photo's and txt: Loot/Vincent Wols

Its Getting Draztik Ent.: codered@hotmail.com
Nighttown: www.nighttown.nl