Bay Area Rap Showcase

Beauty Bar Patio, Friday, March 16

As former Prophets of Rage MC Rico Pabón borrowed heavily from the chest of reggae smoking sessions, Oakland’s Kirby Dominant donned his best Willy Wonka persona in leading the Beauty Bar Patio through a rapping rabbit hole. Notorious “Light Sleeper” Saafir returned from sabbatical in top form, augmenting Nineties Hobo Junction classics with material from his new Good Game: The Transition. The Pack energized the place as a quartet of hyphy teenagers from Berkeley chomping at the bit for ecstatic release. Leading with the electro reverberations of “I’m Shinin'” and eventually working up to their hit song, “Vans,” the Pack had fools dancing on top of speaker stacks and stage-diving into the crowd before the night was through. Goldie, Doonie Baby, and Stresmatic of Fairfield, Calif.’s the Federation punctuated the proceedings with a spastic set of Rick Rock-produced jams including “18 Dummy” and “I Wear My Stunna Glasses at Night.” With fellow Bay area rappers Zion I and Boots Riley performing just up the alley at Visions and Emo’s, a dank Pacific fog grew mob thick under a Texas moon.

This article appears in March 23 • 2007.

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