When Diesel-U-Music put the word out they were looking to award five aspiring artists/groups with gear, studio time, tour spots, club gigs, management advice, press coverage and a chance to perform on stage with The Rapture and De La Soul at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom, loads of demos poured in. Thursday night the winners in five categories—Urban: R&B artist Hassanah; Electronica: Venue; Dance: Clayton & Fulcrum; Rock: The Carlsonics; Cutting Edge: Wow!Cougar—received their awards and hit the stage for 15-minute sets. Then came The Rapture and then…
What the few hip-hop heads—the audience consisted mostly ’80s rockers—had been patiently waiting for… De La Soul. Breaking into “Buddy,” the Long Island old school champs sounded as good as the day 3 Feet High & Rising dropped, which instantly shot them to rap phenomenons. “We’ve been doing this since 1988,” boasted Trugoy. “How many of y’all are old school?” Other 3 Feet classics kicked included “Potholes In My Lawn” and “Me, Myself And I.” Yup, the audience knew all the words.
Despite technical difficulties, De La bounced through more fan favs from De La Soul Is Dead—”A Rolling Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays'” and “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)—and Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump—”Oooh” and “All Good.” Like true pioneers, Posdnuos, Trugoy and Maseo were engaging, playful and still spit like hungry MCs.
For more info, log onto www.diesel-u-music.com.
