Natalie and I went to see Lauryn Hill last night. Shit was dope. I was mad surprised to see D Sharp Djing with the band for her. I need to be like him when i grow up.

I was planning to do a recap anyways. but when i was taking a shower this morning, i heard hella people on the radio saying it was wack. Before i get all hyped and hiffy about dumb folks who just wanted to hear "Killing Me Softly" performed as it is exactly on the CD... let me try to be a little more articulate about this.

The opening group, Jupiter Rising was ehh. I think they had cool music. A cd might be a cool listening experience... but the lead singer had these jeans that went up to her breasts. Serious height on them. It was just kinda weird, im going to leave my fashion commentary out of this, but i just can't imagine pants that give you a deer hoof wedgie are all that comfortable... and the support vocals/beatboxer... he did so much beatbox scratching that he shoulda just been a dj. Overall Jupiter Rising had an energetic performance, but it's hard to really engage a crowd when being eclipsed by Lauryn Hill's shadow. Especially if the audience doesnt know your music.


An extended intermission of almost an hour definitely had an adverse affect on the crowd. (i suppose they had technical issues but neglected to let us know)

Of course the band came out first... warmed up, and started jamming. Lauryn Hill comes out over the speakers first from backstage and then enters from the left. Her opening song is one im supposing is from her new album/body of works how ever she releases it. Heavy reggae feel to it but it's uptempo and fun. This song lasts maybe 7 mins. and it's at this point i think people get kinda antsy to hear something they know, kinda understandable after such an extended intermission.

music cuts at the song end and L tries to get comfortable and asks the house to turn up her voice and cut the feedback she is hearing. i can appreciate this... she just wants us to have a good show.

then she goes into ex factor. i love this song. i think people however, didnt recognize it because the band did an interpretation of the instrumental and L Boogs sang it different. but eff it, this is Lauryn Hill! she is an artist and singing the song how she sees fit.

honestly i dont remember her full set list but it was a mingling of new stuff and interpretations of stuff she put out.

loosley the night sounded like:

new song
ex-factor
to zion
lose your self
how many mics
fugee la
ready or not
lost ones
final hour
killing me softly


and while the set list may look familiar, people may have had a hard time recognizing the songs. Lauryn had a full band composed of 3 backup singers, a dj, upright bassist, guitar, 3 drummers, 2 keyboardists, trumpet, and sax. All the members of the band seemed to be more than competent and full music professionals, so i figure that when you have that much talent onstage, things are going to sound different from a cd produced mostly on drum machines and keyboards.

It was disheartening to hear Oakland boo and some lady in my row screaming she wanted a refund.

to them, i say (and this is where i get a little less than polite):
Miseducation came out 9 years ago. NINE YEARS AGO. get the fuck over it. It's a dope album that is as relevant today as when it came out. But do you really expect an artist of L Boogie's calibre to stay the same? honestly
do you even really listen to music? the band was on point, and l boogie, while a little hoarse, was not off key... and really she has always had a bit of a raspy voice. to the people complaining about L's coarse and at times indecipherable lyrics... how can you say that it was all on her? did you not notice that every time she passed a speaker the microphone squelched and squealed? L has a full voice and it seemed like every time she wanted to utilize her range, the microphone would feedback. it just seemed that lauryn had to limit and adjust how she sang her music to an uncooperative microphone. pulling her punches so to speak.

to the people booing and asking for a refund, it's not your fault. after being inundated with pretty ricky and "ay baby bay" 24/7 on the radio, you just weren't ready for it. but to that, you need to get out and listen to some different shit. or at least, try and be open to different stuff. artists are artists because they produce art. if you arent interested in creativity, dont go to shows of people who care about pushing the limits of their craft. stay home and listen to the cd. [sarcasm]only buy music from people after it's been cosigned by MTV, BET, Maxim Blender, Vibe, The Source, XXL, and Rolling Stone [/sarcasm]

honestly, if you even really care about the opinions of those magazines/stations... i can't even talk to you.

if you really feel like lauryn fell off, figure this. why would she pull out such an extensive band when she could have had a monkey press fast forward on a cd player of instrumentals... fuck that she coulda had a cd of instrumentals just play, and sang over it, both satisfying people who just dont get it aaaaand taking home all that money and not having to split it.
you know, i woulda played the fake dj role and just ran her CD for FREE if i were asked. but Lauryn cared about her music enough to bring a full band and sing her songs as she saw fit.


Don't get it twisted and think im someone who doesnt get "mainstream" music either... as a dj i listen to everything, and hoodstars and lil wayne gets solid rotation next to biggie and of course L Boogie... it is in my humble opinion that people should just listen to everything and be open to.. or rather demand, higher music standards from mainstream music outlets so the next time you see L Boogie, you wont be so shocked is she wants to do a dubbed out(lee perry dub not clear channel censor) rendition of To Zion.



I'd like to tell everyone complaining booing and being rude to go play in traffic after running with scissors. But im too polite for that.

*post edit. Maybe I had the advantage of being in row E. it's a possibility that people in the back and on the balcony had a completely different experience from me. In that case, blame the sound engineer. I heard that while I felt I could hear most of her vocals, a lot of other people couldn't.