Mos Def, Jay Electronica at Nokia Theatre 03.30.08
4.1.2008
Review and photos from Sunday night’s Mos Def show with Jay Electronica at Nokia Theatre
There’s a reason they call New York City the rotten apple sometimes and internet darling emcee Jay Electronica got a little taste last night. To some, Jay has created some of the most interesting and promising rhymes in recent years with seemingly endless topical ability and flow, but apparently the crowd who paid to see Mos Def at Nokia Theater Sunday night are still somewhere deep in REM sleep. Jay’s energetic set included personal favorites ‘Act 1’, the Nas interpolation ‘My World’, ‘Victory is in my Clutches’ (with his girl E. Badu on the hook, no less), and a few more joints from his unreleased catalogue. But even with Just Blaze on the wheels of steel, the restless crowd grew tired of Jay’s between song anecdotes quickly. Truthfully, Mos probably could have recounted the same stories and the crowd would have willingly eaten it up, but that is the power of fame and charisma. Jay really shined when he was spitting (especially acapella) and the engaging moments will come eventually when Jay develops more confidence and more of a following.
Speaking of following, I had no idea I would be waiting around the blocks for 45 minutes before a Mos Def show on a Sunday night. Goddamn, I felt old at this show. Apparently Mighty Mos is big with the younger crowd nowadays, which was evidenced by the almost deserted bars at Nokia. Black Dante does bring the charisma to his show, performing with 2 DJ’s and dancing and joking with the crowd like he is a trained actor or host of a live spoken word show or something. Mos sort of abuses this talent by indulging in a medley of reggae songs and other random shit during his set, but his unapologetic playfulness is somewhat infectious. Mos showed he has his emcee mojo back by performing a bunch of heat rocks off the forthcoming Ecstatic album, including the Madlib bangers ‘Auditorium’ and ‘Twilight Speedball’. Although he also performed cuts off Tru3 Magic like ‘Undeniable’ and ‘Boogieman’, ‘Ghetto Rock’ and ‘The Edge’ off The New Danger, my favorite joints of the night were his classic crowd-pleasers; ‘Hip Hop’, ‘Definition’ and ‘Ms. Fat Booty’. Although I kept expecting someone to pop up and utilize the Rhodes and guitar on the stage, Mos proved that he has enough personality to rock the crowd solo. Hopefully, Jay Electronica stuck around to take notes, the masses may not know it yet, but his stock is rising and his time may be soon.
-dRes, contributing writer and beatmaker for deadlymelody.com
updated 04.02: pics of Just Blaze and Erykah Badu
yeaa i heard jay was actually a dissapointment. I seen mos def way too many times to see him headline again but im sure it was a solid show. Mos rarely dissapoints
I agree - Jay was bit of a dissapointment, since I expected a lot out of it. Needless to say, Mos was off the hook! I wished he had performed more of his old school songs, but his charismatic personality really rocked the crowd right!
i really went to see jay, being that ive seen mos like 3 times prior. Jay started off good but plummeted very quickly, he had no crowd control and expected too much out of the crown being a new emcee. i hope he gets his live game better, ill keep supporting though.
I agree with you…I totally felt old at this show and I’m 23…blah! I can’t stand the young hipster scene I’m sorry…but whatevs..still loved the show, sooo glad I got to see Jay Electronica, I was very into his performance, his nervous energy was endearing.
nice to see some people were feeling it…i honestly felt bad for him…the people around me were pretty despicable the way they reacted to him
quote from angela
“can’t stand the young hipster scene I’m sorry”
so you would rather young people support mainstream hiphop instead of paying to support your favorite artists AND boost their success AND sell out their shows?
ignorance is bliss!
That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m glad young people support what they love but if it’s something they don’t know about they have absolutely no respect. I’m not just assuming or creating a stereotype, I’ve experienced the lack of respect first hand by unfortunately having to stand next to them. If you love music then love it all and be open minded enough to listen to everything including the opening act even if you have no idea who they are. So it’s quite hypocritical to go see an “underground” act but boo the “underground” first act off the stage. That is ignorance, my dear.
If you don’t love something fine, but it is just uncalled for them to act the way they did at this show. That is all. ;D
thanks for clarifying. i fully agree with you
This was my first time seeing Mos Def and the first time I had ever heard of Jay Electronica (except from the song clip I heard on his myspace page a few days before the concert). All of you who were at the show have got to admit that the brother needs to up his game - and really - why was he dissing Funk Master Flex and Weezy?? I mean - everyone is trying to do their thing. Mos even referenced a couple of pop culture things too (Soulja Boy and Making the Band). Is main stream sooo horrible? I have to admit that I’ve bobbed my head to more than a few Kanye songs - he’s main stream - does that make me a person who doesn’t know music? Sheek Looch’s song doesn’t exactly make me race to change the dial…the point is that everyone has a place. Jay Electronica should realize this just like all the people who were booing him should realize that he has a place too….I would personally give Jay E another chance…but he really needs to work on comming correct…All in all though I loved Mos Def’s show and unfortunately everyone has been talking about how horrible Jay Electronica was…Jay - take note.