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Page 2 Music Focus A Iporthuih ©baerher July 19, 2000 S U P P L E M E N T OF Common, De La Soul & Biz Markie at Spitkicker Tour OQ lyiMI Q H f °*nocouit ■ J â o r tla n if (©baertoer Editor in Chief, Publisher Charles H. W ashington Editor Larry J. Jackson, Sr. Copy Editor Joy Ramos bi Business Manager G ary A nn Taylor Creative Director Shawn Strahan 4747 NE M artin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. Portland, O R 97211 503-288-0033 Fax 503-288-0015 e-mail: thefocus@portlandobserver.com sul**rijitíontí^x>rtlandobAerver.cntn D eadlines lor subm itted material: Articles: Friday by 5 pm . Ads: Monday by Noon Focus welcomes freelance submissions. M anuscripts and photographs can be returned if accom panied by a self- addressed stam ped envelope. All created display ads becom e the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the w ritten consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of the ad. 1<W9 Ifte Portland Observer F elicia L. S lider C all it karm a. Call it a sixth sense...call it whatever you like. But for al 1 o f my real hip-hop heads out there, who follow my regular columns on the real and rawness of rap and the fusion o f both hip-hop and the r&b industry, then, you know what I’m talking about. If you got a chance to peep my CD review, (here’s where the crystal ball comes into play)..that I did, ex p lain in g th at from the day Common gave the streets birth to his current smash single “The Light”, that this east-coast flavored hit, would be one the phenomenon o f summer 2 triple 0. And on June 29th, courtesy o f another Direct Production promo, Commons “The Light” shined, De La Soul, Biz Markie, Pharoahe Monch, and Talib Kweli & DJ Hi- Tek stampeded into Portland during the 1” annual Spitkicker Tour. So for those o f you out there that missed the perform ance.. .have shame. First o f all, it’s rare that a lot o f hip- hop tours kick-off the first leg o f their tour on the west coast. You might find a few here and there (mostly those strictly based from the w est)... but for what I call a major tour, starting in the west is rare. And even if they do start somewhere near the mid-west, by the time the leg o f the tour gets near Sea-Tac or the City o f Roses, they’ve lost some o f their steam. But for the Spitkicker Tour, which started at S e a ttle ’s Param ount Theatre on June 28,h, and winded it’s way through Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Irvine where Jeru the Damaja guested, and in LA, where Mos D ef performed on the 4lh o f July at the House o f Blues. And more surprises and stunts are sure to come as it did during the Las Vegas show where N BA L aker S h aq u ille O ’Neal came through the crowd, Peter Guns o f D éjà Vu, U ptow n Baby, Go Bronx made an appearance as well as the Liks while D e L a Soul rip p ed it onstage. As S p itk ic k e r.c o m awarded San Diego for “Most Hyped West-Coast Crowd”, I’m sure that the tour will continue to craze and amaze each center they enter as they completed their mid-west stops on A lb u q u erq u e, D enver, Milwaukee, and two sold- out nights on July 13 & 14,h Commons Chicago born & bred sto m p in ’ grounds. Whether it’s because New York Native, Biz Markie began his career in the early ’80s, rapping at the likes o f his native New Y ork’s Funhouse and Roxy, and P h aro ah e M onch represents his track song “Queens” - a moving slice o f life portrait o f the daily struggles and tragedies that affect those residing in M onch's South Jamaica, Q ueens neighborhood, maybe the young- young Brooklyn-ite Talib Kweli, Posdnous (De La Soul) roots in the mecca o f hip hop— the boogie-down Bronx, as well as De La Souls pride in representin’ their Long Island roots, you can be sure that this past subway stop in NYC T u e .Ju l.1 8 at N ew Y o rk ’s Roseland, was hot... hot... hot!! 1 So if you did miss my premonition that Commons “The Light” from L ike Water fo r Chocolate would be the beat for your jeep or the track to pump in your hummer for the summer, as well ‘fessed up to your delayed reaction to peep him at D ir e c t’s R o se la n d S p itk ic k e r promotion, then please, don’t sleep and cop the following. T he c u rre n t m ig h ty M o n c h ’s (Pharoahe ofO rganized Konfusion fam e) firs t sin g le , “ Sim on S ay s,’’from his inaugural solo album. Internal Affairs, on Rawkus Records, Talib Kewli & DJ Hi- T ek’s “Move Somethin’” on CD release Train o f Thought dropping September 19,h or the forthcoming A rt O fficial Intelligence album, which is the first in a three volume trilogy marking the return o f De La Soul with guest appearances from the Beastie Boys, Redman, Busta Rhymes, Chaka Khan, the Liks, Xzibit and many more. From east to west, this collage o f hip-hop crafters are doin it, doin it and doin it well. If you plan on redeeming your recently purchased air-fare wars airline ticket anytime soon, and come anywhere close to where this Spitkicker tour is spinnin’, be sure to grab a seat, and get ready for a bowl full o f hip-hop at its best.... a gamut o f hip-hop gumbo. Live M usic • G roup Events D elicio u s P ub Fare H o m em ad e S o u p s • G re a t S p ecials H a n d c ra fte d A les & W in es 8203 N. IvaVihoe Street • Portland • (503) 283-8520 w w w .m cm cn a m in s.co m A ll food, ales and wines available to go Hi^icatSodety #CN0«US A