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
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■ J â o r tla n if
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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