On Sunday, April 23rd, DOPE magazine held their 6th annual DOPE Cup. The theme this year, Puff and Play, was a throwback. With old school games like Ms. Pacman, and rappers like Talib Kweli to take us back to the boom bap days.
While a haze of the finest cannabis lingered in the air, DJ Cide was spinning a mixture of old and new school cuts. Monitors were set up with images from Super Mario. As the evening progressed and the haze built, a voice cut through the crowd. People turned their heads as the first act was announced.
Local duo Kung Foo Grip came onto the stage with more energy than most of the stoned crowd put together. Enthusiastically they pulled the zombified crowd towards the stage. G. Cyph took the lead with a personality as large as his fro. He had no problem hopping off stage to lean over the barricade and rap with the crowd. When back on stage, Cyph moved in unison with his partner Eff is H.
As more and more attention is brought to the stage, the beat drops out. Eff, a.k.a. Fish, asks the crowd if he could just speak to them for a minute. As the a cappella bars left his mouth the rhythm of his voice made you want to bob your head. The crowd starts to cheer as Fish spits hot fire. Only gasping for breath after every three or four bars of pucker-face inducing rhymes. If people weren’t watching the stage before, KFG sure had their attention now. Ending their set with a crowd favorite, Kung Foo Grip has the whole place ‘Zerkin’ as they set the vibe for the next artist.
To put the cherry on top of that Sunday, DOPE brought out Talib Kweli to perform. Now I just want to repeat this, I got to see Talib – mother cluckin’ – Kweli rock the mic, while higher than a kite, two Sunday nights ago.
Coming off the boom bap vibes Kung Foo Grip laid down, Talib took us straight to Brooklyn. His breath control is nothing short of amazing. Seemingly spitting an entire paragraph in just a few bars. Making it look as easy as one, two, three, he switched it up and let the crowd jam to some Jackson 5. Coming off the one-year anniversary of his passing, the crowd paid respects to the late Prince.
As part of blending the old school with the new school, Talib brought out one of the dopest surprises of the night. His protege is an incredible female out of Chicago who goes by K’Valentine. Spitting bars like an Uzi, she had the crowd popping off.
Featured Image: 1Take Studios
