I am not the sort of person most would expect to be into hip hop music. But in the last few years (or more), I’ve found a number of artists that I really do like. And because my brother is an even bigger fan, we team up to go to a lot of concerts that no one else we know would usually be into.
I’m a hip hop fan, but I hate most of what would be desribed as mainstream hip hop or rap. I’ve found I like the “old school” more, whether that’s the stuff that first came to prominence in the ’80s like the Beastie Boys, De La Soul or Public Enemy, or more recent “alternative hip hop” stuff like Jurassic 5. (See the title link for a brief article on this apparent genre, that does seem to sum up what I like.)
Last night, we got to see one of those real “legend” artists — De La Soul. These guys are in their late 30s now, but they’re still right on their game, going through all their major hits and keeping the interaction strong with the audience through the whole show.
The show itself was at Hyde Park Barracks of all places, specially converted into a venue for The Sydney Festival. They’ve been doing this for a few years now, and it’s certainly a different place to see a hip hop group.
And (I love the net), there’s a whole pile of photos from the show on Flickr already.
Highlights especially from Triple J photographer Matt Booy, as well as the official Becks Festival Bar photo sets:
De La Soul — from the Becks Festival Bar photo set.