DJ a couple of bangers for Alpha Gamma Rho at Penn State, beatbox at the Friday Freestyle cyphers at Temple, and drop some tapes from an up-and-coming white rapper and you just might end up an expert on fratrap. Fratrap is what happens when you put hip-hop music, beer, and a bunch of white guys in a house on a regular basis, like what happens in most frat houses all across America. Eventually somebody gets up and starts rhyming. Some of them are actually pretty good, usually the ones who emulate true-school hip-hop the most, and at the very least it's not just radio music playing at the parties anymore. On the spectrum of white rap, it's a lot closer to Asher Roth-who was himself part of the fratrap scene at West Chester before dropping out-than Eminem, Mike Shinoda, or Yelawolf. Guide to this video: what is wrong with fratrap, Joey AX, his producer Michael Piffington One such scion of the fratrap scene is Joey AX, who hates the radio, Jersey Shore, and the false American dream our parents bought into so much that he is denouncing it all on concept street album The Goodbye America Project. Lead singles "Swagger Thru the Speakers" and "She's Gone" feature sample-based production and what sounds like live drumming, two signs that this just might be true-school hip-hop instead of imitation "I Love College". Download the mixtape he and Mike Piff, Joey's producer and fellow MC, dropped for free here and judge for yourself.
This year's Temple homecoming concert featured Lupe Fiasco, Asher Roth, and Dosage (the opening act I missed because of a friend's birthday mishap involving Distrito). Unlike my previous Temple concert experience, there were no djs working the crowd in between acts, just a bunch of opening shoutouts from MCPB personnel. Asher Roth took the stage fairly promptly, in contrast to the last time I saw him. Perhaps his punctuality was connected to his seeming lack of marijuana or alcohol, again in contrast to my previous experience. His performance, though slightly less enthusiastic, was otherwise unaffected by this alteration. Approximately a third of his crowd interaction was still dedicated to the promotion of marijuana and alcohol consumption, the remainder reserved for criticizing the evils of commercialism and demonstrating his love for and knowledge of Philadelphia (shouting out Harry Kalas, Jim Johnson, historical sites, and repeatedly claiming Philadelphians as the best people in the world). Despite obvious effort, it seemed much of the crowd were either dismissing him as the one-hit wonder behind the party anthem "I Love College" or drunkenly waiting for that song to justify their attendance. Bright spots included interludes from various other popular songs supposedly being played from his boombox, DJ Wreckineyez' impressive turntabulism performance using Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" leading up to the aforementioned single (the original mixtape version with the Weezer sample that he couldn't clear for the album), the addition of a live drummer to his crew, and Temple girls packing the stage to scream and dance along to dancefloor anthem "She Don't Wanna Man".
Unfortunately the glowing white ball of fun on the stage had no sooner left than the crowd's "Lupe! Lupe!" chant preempted his planned encore... which was then done anyway. Roth's excellent "A Milli" and "Roth Boys" were overshadowed by both the crowd's overwhelming desire for the next act to arrive and familiarity with the original songs using those instrumentals. The ensuing interlude between performances serves as an excellent segue in a brief mention of the venue and atmosphere more generally. This concert was held in Temple's Liacouras Center, a cavernous space the college students only filled up to the first level in most places. Security was fairly tight, but that didn't prevent many concertgoers from smoking assorted varieties of ganja, an activity discouraged only by shining flashlights at offending parties. One couple chose an activity evidently much more discouraged, and provided my friends and I with the amusement of watching security interrupt a repeat sexual encounter on the upper level, unceremoniously escorting the two lovebirds out.
When the lights came down and a DJ, guitarist, and drummer played the intro to "The Cool", the screaming fans finally got what they wanted-Lupe Fiasco. With guitar and drum solos, fans singing along, peeling off layers of clothing, coming down into the crowd, and his manic stage presence, Lupe was put on what could have almost been described as a rock show, right down to the Jimi Hendrix-sampling "Fire" (free mp3). Any attendees unsure of how hip-hop this was were immediately pacified when he began asking his DJ for various beats, freestyling and performing his "Everybody Nose" N.E.R.D. remix and Kanye collabo "Touch the Sky". Despite substantial contributions from and shoutouts to the instrumentalists and backup vocalist he brought onstage with him, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was Lupe's show. Mesmerizing flows from albums new and old, mixtapes, and off the cuff over a variety of beats kept the crowd's attention from start to finish. At one point he almost lost control when he went off on his new album title (L.A.S.E.R.S. which stands for love always shines everytime, remember to smile) in a way my friend Evan Scott described as "a universalistic sermon" that another reviewer complained about here. This diatribe went on just long enough to be memorable, then he got into several snippets from the new album-just enough to interest the audience without providing any bootleg-worthy moments. Clear crowd favorites included skating anthem "Kick Push", "Paris, Tokyo" (dedicated "to all my beautiful, respectable ladies"), and singalong hit "Superstar". Check out some videos taken from far enough back not to blow out the camera mic here to get an impression of what I'm talking about. It was honestly the best live hip-hop show I've ever seen, featuring one of the more versatile artists in the game right now. Apologies for the terrible sound quality, this is meant to get the vibe of the actual show right in front of a sub. If you want to listen to the music, check out the mp3 link above or buy his album.
Let me tell you the story of two young men who live in Bucks County, PA. One of them went to West Chester, the other to Messiah. One raps, the other (sorta) djs. Both of these young men ended up at the same club one night in Philadelphia-a club called Roxxy that the second man is forced by his age to frequent and the first man was hired to play at by a certain radio station that the second man despises.
Actually, the show was quite good for a 3-song set performed later than expected (this was the afterparty, after all, not the actual concert). DJ Wreckineyez opened up with a short set of older hip-hop jams like "The Humpty Dance", spinning behind his back, moving the slider with his nose, and other antics keeping the crowd entertained until he dropped Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Asher & his crew walked out. Opening with his megahit "I Love College", Roth then rattled off new single "Be By Myself" and ladies' record "She Don't Wanna Man", for which he had girls from the crowd join the club's go-go dancers onstage. The highlight of the night, this set put the normal Q102 djs to shame (not that that is extremely difficult). He is also quite adept at keeping the crowd hype in between songs, starting chants, chugging beers, shouting out marijuana, West Chester, and Bucks County (among other things), and joining his hype man (who had an unlit joint in his mouth the whole time) in dancing awkwardly around stage in typically sarcastic white-boy fashion. Here's a video of Asher Roth, Wreckineyez, and the Roots performing "Be By Myself" on Jimmy Fallon:
