how alive? too alive.

last night was pretty kick ass. i went to see Aesop Rock. i went knowing that Aesop is great, that i like Rob Sonic and the rest, generally from DefJux, are at least decent.

i was very impressed by the first act, Greyskul. they were way too good to be an opening act. in my opinion. but evidently my opinion doesnt translate into mainstream popularity, except in a few isolated instances. but i digress, if you dig DefJux and underground hip hop stuff, even Talib Kweli and Mos Def, youd probably enjoy. they were real good.

up next was Yak Ballz. not my favorite, but consistent and good. he put on a good set. like i said, im kind of indifferent, but dont interpret this as a bad review, because i would rather listen to Yak Ballz than Kanye any time. but then, that goes for just about anything except for techno-polka, which i just made up.

finally Aesop and Rob came out. first, i must comment on Rob. hes a big fucking dude. think like a 6-4 white guy with a sloppy white guy fro who weighs at least 300lbs. but also think of a guy who is called Rob Sonic who can rap as fast as just about anyone. he seems to be little recognized, and ill concede that compared to others at DefJux like Cage and Aesop his subject matter is a bit trite. but thats the only way i can knock him.

Aesop is consistently awesome. i really enjoy his style and his shows, but his style is hard for me. its weird for me. i was thinking about this last night. his style is more like a cycle. the rhythm in his raps comes around like a hissing flat. its rhythmic as it spins, and theres no real stopping point. i feel like a lot of people, singers included, use more of a common ending point to their phrasing, rather than the cyclical style. think waves, rather than a cycle. as the waves roll up on the beach, on ends, then the next comes in and ends at more or less the same spot. i dont know if any of this makes any sense to anyone but me, but it does to me. its kind of like the different rhythms of different languages.

anyway, it was a great use of 20 bucks. i would highly recommend the whole group, with Greyskul getting the best review for coming out of nowhere and rocking my socks off.