So this past Thursday, it was announced via Giant Step’s humongous mailing list that Erykah Badu would be doing a “secret” show on Saturday night. I’ve never seen her live before and the price was right so I snatched up a pair before they quickly sold out.

The show was held at Good Units, which is a new venue in the sub-basement of the Hudson Hotel. Apparently it used to be a former YMCA. I was expecting something smaller but its a great sized venue. and set up nicely to do smallish, intimate shows and pretty good sized parties.

Doors were at 9 and the show seems to have started soon after. There were a lot of opening acts who did full-on sets. Couple that with  what seemed to be Erykah Badu’s hesitance to get up on stage before 2am, and you’ve got a looooong night.

So let’s start with the first act: MNDR

(I kinda forgot I had a camera so I didn’t start shooting until after her performance. The shots aren’t that great anyway)

I only caught the tail end of her set but I listened to some of her stuff on her myspace page prior to the show. Electro-pop that isn’t annoying. She’s got a good thing going.

Next up: The Tony Castles

Indie rock trio where one of the guitarists (dude to the left) did double duty as keyboardist. Honestly, the sound at this point up until Ms. Badu’s set sucked and I can’t offer an opinion more than I think they were more bad than good, but probably not horrible.

Then: Spank Rock

I’ll be fully up front: while I dig B-more stuff, I can’t say I’m a huge fan. He’s definitely fun and the beats are cool but unless its a raging electro-bash, I just don’t think it fits well on stage at a ticketed show that isn’t 100% geared towards coke binges and grinding on someone’s crotch in sweaty ecstasy. It was a nice way to try and get the crowd hyped for the headliner but between the cruddy sound and some folks plain not feeling the tunes (while there were a lot of ladies in the crowd, not all of them wanted to shake it until Spank Rock’s dick turned racist), I think his performance fell flat. I must commend him on managing to recreate the very same look sported by De’voreaux White, also known as Argyle, the limo driver, in the very first Die Hard.

After quite a long break to hang some huge homemade lighted ankh and a switch from the “DJ” spinning old soul 45s the whole damn night to a cat who played some 90s hip hop to re-heat the crowd waiting several hours for the main event, Ms. Badu finally came on stage, and for those who decided to hang in there, made the annoyance at the wait subside. Thankfully, her own sound guy took over the board because she sounded great.

I can’t say what a typical Badu show is like but the show was seamless! She did songs off every album in their entirety with lots of creativity and improvisation and just blended right into the next joint. It was great. She did pretty straight versions of “The Healer” , “On and On”, “…&On” and did a cool  of “Appletree” that mixed in elements from George Kranz’ “Din Da Da” and Afrika Bambaataa & SoulSonic Force’s “Planet Rock”.  She did another group of songs from Baduizm, Worldwide Underground, and New Amerykah Part I then launched into a version of Outkast’s “Liberation” that really knocked my socks off. She finished off the night with “Window Seat”. Or rather, I finished my night hearing her do “Window Seat” because everyone I was with was either extremely tired or hungry or both and wanted to get the hell out. So we bounced.

I’m super excited for her latest album, New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh, to drop tomorrow. I’m really digging some of the tracks that have leaked so far.  I’m feeling one in particular I don’t think is making the final cut, features Bilal (note: Bilal and Erykah need to work together more often) and Lil Wayne. I dig the funk being channelled on this.

Erykah Badu-Jump Up in the Air and Stay There (feat. Bilal and Lil Wayne)

died on March 9th.

Definitely one of my top 5 favorite MCs ever.

I still have a tape of whatever mix show I first heard ‘Party and Bullsh!t’ on at my parents’ house.  I thought I was a bit of a badass around that time so hearing “I was a terror since the public school era” got me hooked.

Then it was that version of “Me and My B!tch”   that didn’t make the actual commercial release because of sample issues (they sampled Minnie Riperton’s “Take A Little Trip”) that I had on tape somewhere as well.  I couldn’t roll with beating chicks for talking slick but it was a banger (admittedly I dont’ like the version that made the album). Those were the first two songs that introduced me to Biggie Smalls a.k.a Notorious B.I.G.,  arguably the most celebrated of all Brooklyn MCs.

I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said. Funny, insightful, amazing word play and story telling coupled with great production from such greats as Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier, Lord Finesse, and Clark Kent makes for an impressive catalog depsite his short time on earth. He left us with some bangers that continue to get booties shaking in the club, heads nodding in the whip, and reminding up and coming MCs what they should be striving for.

13 years and your influence and memory still lives on. Rest In Power, B.I.G.

For those of us who actually live in Bed Stuy and are HUGE Biggie fans but won’t be allowed into Diddy’s party at The Lab tonight, I’ll leave you with my favorite track.

Biggie Smalls-Party and Bullshit

So far 2010 has been pretty good music-wise. Next week, Gorillaz drops another album, Plastic Beach.

Gorillaz is a virtual concept band that originally had musicians playing the different “members” of the band and also included additional collaboration with other artists like Del the Funkee Homosapien. Damon Albern from Blur is the main songwriter and lends most of the lead vocals to the songs. The first album, Gorillaz, was pretty well received as an artsy blend of many genres from hip hop to rock to reggae and punk. Albern and Dan the Automator produced most of the album.

The second album, Demon Days, came out in 2005 won a grammy or two. That album was pretty dope. Danger Mouse took Dan the Automator’s place on a lot of the production and there were a lot more guest spots on it from artists such as Neneh Cherry, Roots Manuva, and a couple of choirs. “Dirty Harry”, featuring Imani/Bootie Brown from The Pharcyde was my absolute favorite jam. I remember it fondly because it was one of the songs I played pretty often when I first started DJing and someone would always ask me who did the track.

Plastic Beach seems pretty promising, with guest spots from the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon, De La Soul, and others. Damon Albern did all of the production this time and from what I’ve heard so far, it doesn’t look like Danger Mouse will be missed on this one.

Here are a few tracks that have leaked so far:

Stylo (featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
I love this track. I love the electronic/new wave sound to it and its got Bobby Womack on it! I was a bit dubious when I saw who the track featured before actually listening but its great. The video is also out and Bruce Willis is in it. (embedding is disabled! sorry!)

Stylo-Chiddy Bang Remix (courtesy of Above the Fold)
I figured I’d throw this one in for good measure, though I don’t really like it. Removing the best parts of the song to put your own verses in is kind of wack. I don’t know too much about Chiddy Bang other than that they dropped a mixtape late last year.I didn’t like that much either except for “Get Up In the Morning”, in which they flip Desmond Dekker’s “The Israelites”.

Superfast Jellyfish  (featuring De La Soul and Gruff Rhys)
This song is weirdly dope. It was confusing at first until I read a little bit about the concept behind the album and the name Plastic Beach. This song also has that same pep you get from hearing this classic  (which was sampled for this classic ). I dig it.

March 9th is just around the corner so don’t forget to buy it!

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I also want to send well wishes to Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal, who experienced a cardiac episode over the weekend which required some pretty complicated surgery. Rumors of his death were spreading so I’m very glad to hear that the surgery went well and he is expected to recover though he is still very much in serious condition. Its tough picking a favorite Gangstarr joint, so I’ll leave you with this one.