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- The Gabah in
Hollywood, CA / August 05, 2004
When
was the last time you caught Poor Righteous Teachers or Wise Intellect
out here in LA? Yeah, I can’t recall the last time either. Enter the
3rd Place Promotions, an ill venue like the Gabah and then PRT and you
have the making of a classic evening.
DJ’s AC the PD, DJ
Mark Luv (who spun the ill Reggae set), and DJ Marski set the evening
off keeping the floor moving and the anticipation up. Adding to hype
was the surprise appearance of The Rat Pack (Grandmaster Melle Mel,
Grandmaster Caz and Prince Whipper Whip) straight out of the studio
with a brand new track to debut! Hosts Dr. Oops and Lil Sci introduced
the legends and their new single “Slide,” a party banger in the
vein of “Rappers Delight” rhyme after rhyme and a catchy chorus.
Before
we were blessed with the Righteous performance the packed house had to
endure opening MC Fathead. Granted the crowd was over anxious to see
PRT, but they just weren’t receptive to the opener. Eager to keep
the show moving, Wise Intellect was brought out almost immediately
after the opener completed his 4-song set and jumped it off with no
delay.
Cameras were flashing,
tape was rolling and the B-Boys were getting down from bar one, you
could tell it was gonna be a performance to remember. Wise Intellect
and his hype man ran through classic after classic like “Rock Dis
Funky Joint,” “Easy Star,” Strictly Mashin’,” and
“Shakiyla.” I think the only classic left out was “Conscious
Styles.” Wise Intelligent’s flow was crystal clear and sounded
exactly like the joints we have been spinning for years. Aside from
the classics, Wise dropped new material from their forthcoming album
and acapella rhymes that let the “bling” MC’s know the deal
with the real, and rhymes about George Dubya that would make Michael
Moore wish he wrote them. 
After rhyming line
for line and literally bouncing off the walls for over an hour, the
house was still buzzing when Wise left the stage. Just when the floor
began to clear, the Rat Pack bum rushed the stage and began an
impromptu performance of the new track they had debuted earlier. Heads
ran back into the venue and couldn’t believe what they were
witnessing. After their performance of their new song, they asked if
the crowd was ready for more and called Zulu DJ Mark Luv back to the
stage.
It was already 2:10am
and the house lights popped on, the crowd booed and Muscle Simmons aka
Melle Mel yelled for the lights to be turned back off. Obviously
understanding what was about to go down and that they may never see
this again, the house lights dimmed once again and Mark Luv began
rocking doubles of Nas’ “Made You Look” while the Rat Pack
dropped a verse one by one with Melle Mel closing out the night with
the line, “Fuck Biggie and ‘Pac, motherfuckers, I’m the
greatest!” There was a very brief moment of silence as the record
was brought back and then a hushed but approving
“oooooooooooooohhhhhh” came from the crowd.
This was truly a
classic event…support Hip-Hop y’all and pay your respect to the
pioneers when they come through your town.
Words by
JtothaI@thaformula.com
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