Turtleheads
Mercury, Wednesday 13 Where do these oxymorons get off confusing the crowd with contextually cockamamie verses that would never be said literally? Beginning by stating that they’re “the worst hip-hop group in Austin,” the duo of manipulating minds made a mockery of what it means to be an MC, and they took it seriously. Representing a new species of MC, bred from a lifestyle of skating and eating pavement, the Turtleheads emerged onstage unnerved by the norms of society’s civilized mannerisms. With nonchalant smiles and a positive energy of genuine excitement, Haps and Azatat handled their slot like friends having fun — as if they were as excited to see the crowd as the crowd was to see them. The five-foot, bald brainchild, Azatat, stood poised with stern concentration as his jolly, fro-tipped, giant partner gently towered in the shadows. Keeping a stern control of prose, he spewed a tight, complex flow full of metaphoric motions fixed on getting “the crowd moving like bowels.” As the beat slowed, the lengthy Haps leaned toward the spotlight to release tweaked-out compositions. The verbal horseplay led further back to the foundations of “eight-bit” video gaming. Utilizing a looped Tetris beat that had been hammered into the crowd, Azatat completed the concept with crass verses on the complications of life. The Turtleheads offered piece of mind that’s sensibly silly and balanced by obtuse tangents that grind the edge of contemporary hip-hop concepts.This article appears in March 15 • 2002.