The other day, I overheard some guys talking about the impossibility of a weekly or monthly old-school hip-hop night ever happening in town. All former denizens of Dallas’ new-school hip-hop heydays of the early- and mid-1990s, the guys had enough legitimate explanations.
A.) Any regular night that has anything to do with hip-hop today starts off cool and fun but inevitably attracts the kinds of knuckleheads who think rap videos are real and turns sour. B1.) Most people confuse what passes for rap today with the authentic, for lack of a better term, stuff. And, most importantly, B2.) Few artists today are really doing old-school rap. If they were, then maybe the (mainly young) people who confuse today’s rap with yesterday’s hip-hop would be able to appreciate what the music was built on: the pioneers (The Furious Five, Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow), the next generation (Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C.), and everything that followed, including the Afrocentric and/or Nu-School rappers (BDP, De La Soul, Public Enemy), the G-rated party rappers (the Fresh Prince, Heavy D, Kid ‘n Play), the sex rappers (2 Live Crew, Too $hort), and the gangsters (N.W.A., Schoolly D). The (mainly young) people would understand that hip-hop isn’t only about how many “ho’s” you bed or how much “bling” you have – it’s about life and is as expansive as life itself, both lyrically and musically.
Few cities other than probably New York, L.A., or Chicago could have a successful hip-hop night, mainly because middle-American old-schoolers are reflexively averse to new rap and new-rap aficionados don’t care for old-timers talking about how great hip-hop used to be. Dallas, though, occasionally has its moments, and on Friday, young old-school appreciators Headkrack, Pikhasso, and Tahiti (the last two are former members of PPT) will perform at The Cavern (1914 Greenville Ave., 214-828-1914), conjuring up the days of the recently departed Gypsy Tea Room, when every month Headkrack and company had a night that was exactly like what we’re talking about. Maybe Friday’s show is the beginning of a, um, nu era, and maybe – hopefully – it’ll catch on here.
Ain’t no party like an old-school party ’cause an old-school party don’t stop! (Ugh.) …. On the complete opposite ends of the dial this weekend are two can’t-miss rock shows: The Great Tyrant with The Fenz, Yells at Eels, and Rocket for Ethiopia at 9 p.m. on Friday at Lola’s (2736 W. 6th St., 817-877-0666), and Holy Moly with the Whiskey Folk Ramblers and Truck Stop Junkies at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Aardvark (2905 W. Berry St., 817-926-7814), where C&W-punks Holy Moly will celebrate the release of their debut album, Drinkin’, Druggin’ & Lovin’, a 14-song doozie that features such soon to be classics as “I Want to be a Mexican,” the high-lonesome downer “Hillbillies Can’t Drive on Meth,” and my fave, “Liquor is Evil.”
(“I don’t need the bourbon ’cause it makes me wanna box / And I don’t need the gin ’cause it tastes like dirty socks / Well, I don’t need the Jager ’cause it makes me wanna puke / And every time that I drink tequila I always end up nude.”) Check out www.myspace.com/cowpunkholymoly and www.myspace.com/thegreattyrant.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
