I’ve mentioned Wellington based rapper Name UL (real name Emanuel Psathas) on this blog a few times now [Freddie Gibbs, Jurassic 5]. But both times I’ve glanced over his performance and instead focused on the main act. Dismissing talent this good isn’t really fair, so I’ve decided to review his 2013 EP, Summit, to make up for it.
Summit is a banger. It only features three tracks, but those tracks were enough to make me sit up and pay attention.
…”but I ask questions and what perturbs me is that you don’t get answers, nobody wants to talk about it, this event which changed the entire history of our Country, why aren’t allowed to discuss it? Why aren’t we allowed to ask questions? The moment you do you get a reaction like he gave me, ‘how dare you….how dare you question your government?” – Jesse Ventura
‘Generation Why’ begins with a sample from a Jesse Ventura interview on Fox news, discussing the topic of questioning the government. This phases into a high-pitched scat hook accompanied by some monstrous drumming courtesy of Nick Gaffaney. I’ve gushed about Gaffaney’s abilities a few times when I’ve seen Cairo Knife Fight open for Shihad in the past [2010, 2014] and his work here is no less impressive. His drumming, along with some almost-industrial accompaniment, really help to drive the song forward. Name UL urges his peers to critically question things happening around them and to speak up about important issues.
The next song also begins with a sample, this time discussing the feelings of depression, providing the name ‘Shipwreck’ for the song title. Leroy Clampitt provides ghostly backing vocals while one of my favourite musos, Adam Page lets loose on the saxophone, threading throughout and adding his smooth solos to uplift a song that would otherwise seem quite dark. If the first song was big picture – asking questions and trying to make sense of the world – then this second song addresses the same kind of topics on a personal level.
‘Eclipse’ features shimmering, ephemeral synths juxtaposed against abrasive lyrics. The track features music from Wellington drone duo The Shocking and Stunning and vocals from British electro artist Xela. This song is where Name UL really shines. His rapping is urgent and venomous, poised to spark a revolution..
I like the Summit EP for a number of reasons. I love the aggression and the political undertones reminiscent of punk music – that justified anger for a cause. I like how Name UL has chosen to collaborate with a variety of skilled musicians who noticeably impact the overall sound. I like how he is playing with ideas and unafraid to find new sounds, and how his lyrical content reveals some reflective thoughtfulness.
The EP only has three songs, which seems unusual in a world of hip hop that is jam-packed with long and convoluted mixtapes. It’s quality over quantity, concise and effective. Every song gets introduced with a sample that sets the mood. Together they help create a cohesive theme throughout the EP of inviting the listeners to become more socially conscious. I’m a sucker for that punk approach of speaking up for change, and Name UL has won me over by inciting his listeners to wake up and think.
Summit is available for free download at Bandcamp here.
Watching Wellington rapper Name UL tear up the stage was much the same as last time I saw him. He gave a valiant effort attempting to pump up the crowd, but there wasn’t much of a crowd present to be pumped up. I’ll give him credit, Name UL has skills and potential, it just seems that the reception has been a bit lacklustre both times I’ve seen him perform. I’d love to see him in a packed club, where he could really set a crowd off with his energy.
The venue was largely empty, set up with the stage at the North end. This left me feeling a bit disoriented for a bit, seeing as the stage had been at the South end for the Gary Clark Jr show just over a week ago. At first it seemed like it would be a quiet mid-week gig, but the place slowly filled up with time.
I’ve seen a range of different hip hop acts in the past, but never a full crew like Jurassic 5. The four emcees, Chali 2na, Akil, Soup, Mark 7even; along with DJ’s Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist, put on one of the most lively and entertaining shows I’ve seen in a long time.
Having multiple emcees and DJ’s really filled out the sound. It was more than rapping – it was musical. There was singing and there were harmonies. Any one of them alone would have been impressive, but the way that they tag teamed and bounced off each other added to the vocal dynamics. The mix was great and all the lyrics could be clearly heard. The delivery was flawless, clearly the product of many, many hours of rehearsing. The emcees obviously enjoyed themselves as they danced about onstage and took turns delivering lines.
One of the highlights of the night was the DJ battle. Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark came to front of stage with all sorts of ridiculous instruments. Nu-Mark set down a beat using a portable trigger pad. Cut Chemist responded by scratching on a portable turntable strung around the back of his neck. Nu-Mark stepped it up by playing a contraption he’d made from multiple old records. They then teamed up to play an oversized record player that dominated the centre of the stage. One would spin the large “LP” that played a Run The Jewels track, while the other would flick the switches on the mixers. If you’re trying to imagine it: the record was about the size of a large round coffee-table.
J5 really worked the crowd. The set was split into acts. Chali 2na, would introduce new segments, saying “And for this part of the show…” in his deep baritone voice, before explaining what he wanted the audience to do. They had the crowd opening and closing their hands, fist pumping, riding invisible motorcycles and witnessing old Western shootouts. These moments seemed silly and gratuitous, but were fun nevertheless and added interactive components to the set.
To show that they really were there to please, they asked the crowd for requests of obscure songs from the band’s back catalogue. “Now you already know we’re going to play ‘What’s Golden’. But what else do you want to hear? Think of something that you don’t expect us to play!” The set covered hits from every album, and the request session surely left even the most die-hard fans satisfied.
Not only was it a stellar hiphop show, but there was so much more. You come to expect rapping and dancing from a hip hop show, but you know that you’ve witnessed something special when the set involves DJ battles and a kazoo solo. Jurassic 5 are true entertainers in every sense. They were all very talented, but more importantly, they were fun.
Featuring a selection of New Zealand bands across multiple stages
Wellington Waterfront
Sunday 8 March 2015
The lead up to Jim Beam Homegrown has been interesting to observe. Tickets sold out about a week ago, prompting a frenzy of online ticket on-selling. An influx of first-year university students had just come down from their collective O-week high and decided that the cure was to attend Homegrown, no matter what it costs (Thanks Studylink!). Tickets that had originally sold for $109+bf were fetching $250. One girl even paid $700 for two!
Then the weather hit. The festival was postponed from Saturday to Sunday in light of predicted hurricane strength winds. Most visitors from out-of-town had return travel booked for Sunday, so suddenly couldn’t make the event. On top of that were locals who for whatever reason couldn’t escape Sunday commitments. Cue another ticket frenzy, with people desperate to get whatever they could for tickets that they were unable to use. I’m sure that hundreds went unused. Ticketing agencies refused refunds, citing terms and conditions. A postponed event is different to a cancelled event, and they can’t help it if someone is unfortunate enough not to be able to make it.
As a consolation, Homegrown organised two shows at TSB Arena on Saturday for those who couldn’t attend on Sunday. There was an early afternoon rock show featuring Villany, I Am Giant, Devilskin and Blacklistt. A later evening show featured rapper David Dallas, dub-rockers Kora, rock heavyweights Shihad and drum and bass favourites Shapeshifter.
Out-of-towners could choose one of the Saturday shows to attend. Seeing only four bands may have felt like a raw deal, but it was better than nothing. Not enough people showed up though, so Homegrown organisers allowed local ticket holders to attend as well, to fill up the venue.
On Sunday morning the weather was stunning. Still, bright and warm: the perfect recipe to ensure that thousands of drunken concertgoers get their generous dose of sunburn. There was no evidence to indicate the lightning, floods and gale winds of the previous day. The Wellington waterfront was already alive with activity due to the weekly vege markets, and steadily got busier as punters arrived for the festival. Lining up to swap tickets for wristbands was surprisingly painless. No half hour queues like I’d seen in previous years.
Silence The City
The first band I saw was Silence The City on the rock stage in TSB Arena. The day was still young so there wasn’t much of a crowd gathered in front of the stage. They played a short set of alt rock, complete with blinding strobe flashes at regular intervals. A few songs have got airtime on the radio recently and the crowd reacted well to those, along with a cover of Ellie Goulding’s “Burn”, that was quite different to last time I’d seen it played.
It seems that most shows have a standout member of the audience (like Amelia, the blonde girl at Dragonforce a few weeks ago). Well the star of the day at Homegrown was the bare-chested dancer at the rock stage. He was a bearded man with long hair and an open denim shirt who was tearing up the dance floor as if he owned it. He was effortlessly elegant and graceful as he strutted and twirled. The way he moved his feet was especially impressive, seeing as how the floor was so disgustingly sticky from all the spilled drinks the night before. I found myself spending more time watching his dancing than watching the band.I’d seen this same man at Westfest the previous week, dressed and dancing exactly the same during Soundgarden’s set.
Black River Drive
I like Black River Drive but I haven’t really followed them since I saw them about five years ago, when they were promoting Perfect Flaws. They have a nice light rock sound that still retains an edge. I noticed that they have a new drummer now, but still sound largely the same. It made for nice listening as I watched our nameless dancer friend boogie his day away at the back of the arena. BRD also get bonus points for having a bubble machine onstage.
Black River Drive. Image: Bradley Garner Photography.
Nothing scheduled for the next few hours was of interest, so my friends and I took some time to rest up for the night ahead. We bought some ice creams that melted almost instantly in the heat, and made sure to drink plenty of water.
David Dallas
Come 7pm I made my one foray away from the rock stage to the Pop and R&B stage for South Auckland rapper David Dallas. It certainly was a different crowd. Gone were the seas of black band t-shirts and heavily tattooed limbs, although there were plenty of #makehistory temporary tattoos that the Jim Beam girls had given out all day.
Dallas’s band, The Daylight Robbery, were absent due to Homegrown having been postponed. But this didn’t stop Dallas delivering a hit-heavy set. With a DJ manning the backing tracks, Dallas and long time collaborator Jordache tag teamed and performed songs from throughout Dallas’s entire career. If anything, losing his band let Dallas mix things up more. Sid Diamond joined him onstage for “Southside”, followed by another guest spot from PNC. Dallas was right at home onstage and he knew it. He smiled coyly and beckoned for more applause. He rapped a few pre-intro verses before finishing his set with “Runnin'”. It’s true: Not many can rock a show like this.
After wolfing down a burger and a punnet of chips we ventured back to the rock stage for rest of the night.
Blacklistt. Image: Bradley Garner Photography.
Blacklistt
Front-man Damien Alexander started off the set with a vicious rap, before Blacklistt gave their typically aggressive performance for the hard rock fans. They played to please, from the Blindspott stuff that we all wanted to hear to the newer Blacklistt songs that became the next step for the band. The reality is that Blindspott/Blacklistt are one and the same, save for legal dramas. Both have the syncopated beats, the pent-up anger, the DJ scratches, the high-pitched guitars, the reggae ballads… all those aspects that make up the overall sound. One interesting moment was when a chant started up between songs mid set, with half the crowd shouting “Blacklistt”, and the others chanting “Blindspott”. Without being formulaic, the show was everything I’ve come to expect from the band – no matter what you choose to call them.
Shihad. Image: Bradley Garner Photography.
Shihad
I first saw Shihad play in 2008, at the first Homegrown festival when I was 16. Tonight was the twelfth time watching them play. And there’s a reason I keep coming back.
Shihad are rock legends, veterans of the stage who have played together for longer than I’ve been alive. They play every show with such energy that the audience can’t help but become infected by it. The way that front-man Jon Toogood punches the air with such force, and keeps the roadies panicking by climbing atop the speakers side of stage. The way the Karl Kippenberger plucks those bass strings in a way that you can’t help but move to. They way that Tom Larkin pummels those tight tribal patterns out of the drum skins. And although Phil Knight is the least showy, his guitar playing is vital for filling out the band’s sound. When the four of them play Wellington together, they make sure every time that it’s a homecoming to remember.
I actually watched Shihad play the same set the night beforehand. A large majority of the songs played were from the latest album FVEY, with their throbbing beats and abrasive riffs. Four were from The General Electric. The one hiccup was that Knights guitar sounded like it was tuned differently for “Home Again” on the Saturday night, something that was quickly remedied just after the bridge. I think this is the sign of a great live band, that I’d be more than happy to watch the same show two nights running, and not feel bored.
The set that Shihad played both nights. They also played the song “Pacifier” for the encore on Sunday.
When I was a teenager my friends and I would road trip from our hometown of Nelson up to Wellington to attend Homegrown each year. After seven years I’ve already seen most of the bands on the lineup that I’m interested in multiple times. Even so, it still always proves to be a lot of fun. It’s easier now that I live in Wellington, and the lineup never varies much, but I can see myself happily attending more Homegrown festivals in years to come.
When he calls himself Freddie “Gansta” Gibbs you better believe it.
I’ve seen a few rappers in my time, but none seem as thug as Freddie Gibbs.
Gibbs had a DJ providing backing beats, and was also joined onstage by two big black men from his entourage. These two men didn’t seem to have any musical role so I assume that they were bodyguards or security. They spent the whole time drinking and smoking. $10 says it wasn’t tobacco, either.
I swear every song ended with Gibbs saying “Give it up for this motherfucker” and the DJ making an obnoxious horn noise, followed by Gibbs starting the chants “Fuck the Po-lice” and “When I say ES, you say GN!” [Evil Seeds Grow Naturally, the name of Gibb’s début album and clothing label.]
Every. Single. Song.
The dude would give South Park a run for its money in a swearing competition. “Fuck the Police! Smoke yo weed!” he shouted. “Who gets high and shows up for work?” he asked. “That’s what I do!”
This was the first time I had attended a hip hop gig in Auckland. When I first walked into the venue I was impressed. It was nice and big with balconies running around the perimeter of the room. And air conditioning – something that most Wellington venues seriously need to work on.
Gibbs was advertised to start at 9.45pm. I was surprised then, to see a younger rapper come onstage at 10pm. Turns out it was Wellington based support act Name UL.
He did well. He worked the crowd up, as any good opener should. And the once he finished we waited.
And waited.
And waited. For over an hour. Any hype that Name UL had caused had long worn off.
When Gibbs finally came on stage he said “We don’t have much time for this shit so let’s get going”.
Gibbs then delivered a solid half hour set. His rhymes were tight and his delivery impeccable. The crowd was lapping it up. Many of the songs were from his most recent release, Pinata. Half of what he did was a Capella, making it more impressive in stark comparison.
Then Gibbs left the stage. The DJ started a song and Gibbs ran back to do a song. Then he left. Then he came back. It was very confusing. Was he hoping that we chant for an encore? Clearly I wasn’t the only one confused because the crowd was noticeably thinning.
The DJ proceeded to play about four songs while Gibbs watched from a balcony upstairs. Then Gibbs came down and started dancing. Then he left again.
Was he going to rap again? Why had Gibbs said that he was short on time? If he had enough time to dance around surely he had enough time to rap a few more songs? Is it over?
I showed up to the show around 9.30pm and left at 12.20am. I barely saw an hour’s worth of live rapping during that time. I don’t feel like I got $60 worth. I paid money to see a rapper perform. If I wanted to listen to recorded hip hop I would have played some through my own speakers at home.
There’s no denying Gibbs has talent. He spits lyrics as well as the rest of them. But maybe if he had spent more time onstage instead of making me wait while he smoked weed I would have left with a more favourable opinion of him.
Last time Nas played in New Zealand he was touring with Damian Marley promoting their collaborative album Distant Relatives. The time before that he opened for Kanye West.
Nasty Nas, widely considered one of the greatest emcees ever, opening for Kanye? Why wasn’t he headlining? I’d suggest it’s because Kanye gets radio play, and Nas doesn’t.
But fans at the Nas show last night knew better and turned out in force to witness the rap legend in the flesh. Nas may not get the mainstream radio play that Kanye does, but he has still more than earned a loyal following. And two sold out shows was enough to prove it.
And the fans were richly rewarded. Not only did they get to see one of their favourite rappers, but they got to see him perform his most acclaimed album. As advertised, Nas played his groundbreaking début album Illmatic from start to finish, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. DJ Green Lantern oversaw the music and provided backing vocals, while Nas tore through the hit-heavy set.
The setup was fairly unimposing. Nas wore a plain camo green tshirt, a discreet necklace and sunglasses. There was a screen at the back of the stage with videos. But the emphasis wasn’t on showy gimmicks, it was on the music.
The songs from Illmatic were firmly imprinted in the minds of everyone in the audience, most of whom were singing along. They best sing along moment was during “NY York State Of Mind” when everyone shouted “I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death!” The crowd had showed up to relive that enduring album, and Nas delivered exactly what they wanted, playing it all, followed by more songs from later in his career.
The set was a trip down nostalgia lane. The Illmatic singles all featured, like “The World Is Yours”, “One Love” and “Halftime”. There was a shout out to the late Michael Jackson for allowing his music to be sampled on “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”, as well several other late rappers on “Represent”
The second half of the set was less exciting. Nas gave an impressive cross-section of his career through the ages, but Illmatic was the attraction that had set the benchmark.
Nas clearly loved what he was doing. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’ll keep doing it for 20 more, because you guys keep coming back!” he shouted. “I need to keep coming back here more often.”
A number of fans had brought their LP copies of Illmatic to the show and were waving them in the air. “You want me to sign that?” Nas asked, “Help me out and take the plastic off. You got a pen?” After 20 years of touring he still appeared stunned at his fans devotion “A real vinyl record!” he muttered in disbelief as he scrawled his signature on the cover.
My only complaint was that it was extremely hot in the venue. There was no noticeable air conditioning. I was wanting the show to finish half way through the set, just so I could escape the humidity. A sold out gig and a small venue means lots of body heat if going to get generated. Nas himself kept complaining about the heat too, asking the lighting technicians to turn down the onstage lights several times.
No pass outs and no ventilation means no escape from the heat. I wonder if this is a deliberate method of selling more drinks? Apparently it was too hot and crowded at the Run The Jewels/Joey Badass gig the previous week as well, and the gig had been advertised to start far earlier than it actually did, meaning people had been trapped inside with the heat for even longer. If this continues I’ll consider avoiding shows at James Cabaret in the future.
