Mos Def Concert Review

By Kia O. Moore

Mos Def Concert

Mos Def came to Amos Southend, located in Charlotte, on Aug. 12 to bless the Queen City with some real hip-hop. The blessing fell short, and a miracle was the only thing that was going to inject some energy into this show. His latest album titled “Ecstatic” may have made critics overexcited, but Mos Def’s performance could not elicit much excitement form this crowd.

Doors opened at 8 P.M.; Mos Def was on stage by 11:12 P.M. There was a lull between the opening act, Jay Electronica, and the start of Mos Def’s set. For about 45 minutes the only thing that was left to entertain the audience was some background music, two unmanned turntables and a lonely orange drum set.

The crowd became restless while waiting for Mos Def, and sporadic chants of “MOS DEF…MOS DEF…MOS DEF,” ensued.  As the wait wore on, the chants became half-hearted efforts. Those less than enthusiastic chants were a precursor of what was to come.

After the extended wait, two DJs finally made their way to the stage. When they released the vinyl to let the music evade the crowd’s ear drums the volume was uncomfortably high. They quickly adjusted the sound, causing the bass to vibrate through chest as hearts hipped and hopped to the beat.

The stage lights went out as Mos Def came in the back door of the venue. The audience erupted in an exuberant bellow of approval. Mos Def moved swiftly to the drum set. He pounded the vibrantly colored musical cylinders as he rapped into a mic strategically placed in front of the instrument. Like the psychological experiment with Pavlo’s Dogs, hands automatically went up in the air as soon as the sound of Mos Def’s voice move from the speakers to the ears of audience members.

This was the most excitement seen from the crowd throughout the whole performance. After he wrapped up his first song he addressed the crowd and said the familiar Jay-Z spiel, “You could have been anywhere in the world, but you are here with me.” He also thanked the crowd for paying $30 to see his performance.  Mos Def chatted with the crowd and thanked them many times throughout his performance, which became irritating. Performing more of his classic songs would have been the gratitude many would have appreciated.

Mos Def was one of few who seemed to really be into the performance. He, and the white towel draped across his shoulder, swayed from side-to-side with each lyric he spat. He even threw off his black baseball cap as he got deeper into the performance. Mos Def quite often serenaded the audience, which was met with the feedback of silence.

The crowd gave positive feedback when Mos Def spat lyrics to hard hitting, hip-hop induced songs. The crowd seemed to enjoy his ode to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with his rendition of “Close to the Edge.” The crowd also reacted with enthusiasm to “Auditorium,” which is a song featuring Slick Rick vocals. Mos Def also paid homage to the Sugar Hill Gang by lacing many of his song with “Rapper’s Delight” lyrical references.

Every time Mos Def deviated from the classic hip-hop sound he lost crowd support. There was no booing, just no crowd reaction what-so- ever. Hands were no longer in the air, a few head nods were sprinkled throughout the crowd and the majority of the songs received courtesy claps. By midnight the crowd had no energy, and Mos Def was not providing the fuel needed to recharge them. The crowd simply became on-lookers and many made their way to the exit before the concert ended.

Mos Def is a talented lyricist but he needs to take some notes from the New Generation of Hip Hoppers, and learn how to engage a crowd. Mos Def does not need an instructional dance song, but he needs to pay attention to his crowd and study their reactions.

The Amos Southend crowd favored classic hip-hop beats and witty lyrics. Mos Def needed to hold off on the serenades, drum playing, and crowd conversations and give this crowd a straight up dose of hip-hop medicine. If this show was supposed to bring real hip-hop to the Queen City, then I would have rather went to the club and danced to some fake hip-hop.