Q-Tip on stage in NYC

Onstage, a man with a mic is rhythmically delivering more words than you’d typically hear between breaths. Most of what he says is hard to make out, until the entourage of anywhere from 2-30 highly animated friends chime in for 16 measures. Bass is blaring from speakers. There’s no band in sight, just one man with turntables and possibly his Mac … Where might you be? At a rap concert. But to prove that hip-hop shows span a much wider range, Common and Q-Tip, who performed to a sold out crowd last weekend at Times Square’s Nokia Theater, blessed the audience with sounds that celebrated scratching, rhyming over tracks, drums, keys, a bass, guitar, and the only “hype men” were Common’s three background vocalists (one male and two ladies).

Last month 2K Sports kicked off their third annual Bounce Tour, making stops in several major U.S. cities and Toronto, making their way to New York this past Sunday. Q-Tip and Common are the headliners, both of whom are playable characters on NBA 2K8 and also appear on the game’s soundtrack. As avid fans of hip-hop and 2K8, this wasn’t an event that Dime could miss.

Q-Tip opened with one of his new songs but it was Tribe hits like “Bonita Applebum” “Check the Rhime,” “Electric Relaxation,” and “Scenario” that got the crowd really amped. In the middle of his set Tip segued into a walk down memory lane and performed songs by the likes of EPMD and Black Sheep. As soon as Q-Tip and the whole crowd picked Engine #9 up off the track, you heard Dres from Black Sheep yelling, “Back on the scene, crispy and clean you can try, but then why, cuz you can’t intervene…” and the crowd roared again.

Common

Common’s set was all about love. He went into “Love of My Life“ and Erykah Badu’s tracked vocals projected from the speakers. The song was interspersed with verses from other hip-hop classics: “Microphone Fiend,” “Juicy,” “I Need Love,” “Straight out of Compton,” “”Just a Friend” and “South Bronx,” for which surprise guest KRS-One came on stage and also sang “The Bridge is Over.” Common shared part of his set with his DJ who handled the turntables with just as many behind-the-back, spin moves, and crossovers as Chris Paul. Being the true MC that he is, Common freestyled over “Can I Kick It” and invited KRS and Q-Tip back out to join him as they all passed the mic and spit off the top. Of course Common also performed some of the hits he’s penned over the past 10-plus years, but my personal favorites were “Misunderstood” which was supplanted with a drum and chord variation not heard on the album, “Corners” which he rhymed over Nas’ “NY State of Mind” and the show closer, dedicated to the late J Dilla, “The Light” which was infused measures from “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole.

I’ve been a fan of hip-hop since my days of imitating Salt-N-Peppa’s “Push It” dance hoping to be just like Spinderella. I love songs that hip-hop purists would hate for their overly commercial appeal or simplistic lyrics, as well as the songs they would tout as quintessential works of art. But I have been disgruntled with going to hip-hop concerts lately because the musical experience can be so lacking at times, with the only difference from me playing the CD at home being the amplified sound. But Common and Q-Tip delivered a real, live show, reminding me why hip-hop is the “Love of My Life.”

Images taken by Eunjean Song

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