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A Journey Through the Shadows: From Endtroducing….. to Action Adventure
Exploring the evolution of DJ Shadow, his latest album and last months Vancouver show
Every artist follows a different journey in the pursuit of creativity but Josh Davis (aka DJ Shadow) has taken a truly unique and personal route by digging, editing and slowly crafting his way into focus in a way that had never been done before, using the work of others to create an entirely new sound. Having emerged from record store basements with sample-only bedroom productions and subtle but ear catching-ly emotive MPC edits, Davis defined a trip hop adjacent instrumental electronic hip hop sound as the flagship import and breakout artist for James Lavelle’s fledgling UK label Mo Wax.
The track that caught Lavelle’s attention, a 1996 scratched up Shadow edit of Zimbabwe Legit encapsulates the sound he would go on to define with brash hip hop drums, eerie backing melodies, off key heart-string-tugging chords and comedy album sketches all mashed together in a pastiche of reference points that draw you in for a distinctive sensory ride.
Since that release his output has seen a number of iterations and stylistic changes but grounded in an authenticity of spirit with Shadow refusing to be pigeonholed, choosing instead to define his own journey as an artist.
Last month DJ Shadow returned to Vancouver for the first time in 7 years to showcase his latest offering, Action Adventure. In this piece I will explore his journey to this point, details of the show and delve into this latest release.
'Endtroducing…..' expectations and the emerging from the shadows
There is often a hint of expectation from fans, myself included, when a DJ Shadow release is announced. Will he return to the deep, personal, introspective and sample cloaked 'Endtroducing.....' formula showcased on his seminal debut album that we all fell in love with? As time goes on I have come to accept that Davis is not somebody who looks backwards or feels that he is in service to the masses in that way. He once joking said ‘Fuck em’ when asked will the fans appreciate his stylistic changes post 'Endtroducing.....', but anyone who follows Shadow knows that he is deeply committed to searching for the most meaningful and truest expression of the culture, and sincerely and generously connecting with the fans who support his work.
It may not be what we want, but it is who he is, and as time goes on it is what I am beginning to appreciate most about him and other artists who have followed this model (see Andre 3000’s recent left turn for example). It is this very approach that led to 'Endtroducing.....' after all, at a time when sampling was akin to stealing. A commitment to chasing what feels most true, new and innovative.
On reflection, the nostalgia that surrounds 'Endtroducing.....' seems more like a longing for the feeling it evoked for any fan then a realistic outcome. The cords from 'Entroducing......' classics like ‘Building Steam with a Grain of Salt’ struck deeply. It felt like the album belonged to the introverts and night owls who longed for an emotional feeling or connection to music that can be found through the carefully selected samples, collaged to create a beautiful tapestry of sound. We were all experiencing ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’.
Everyone has their own connection to the 'Endtroducing.....' record. For me it brings me back to the early Limewire and Myspace era, stumbling through Allmusic genres and file downloads in the wild west of the internet as downloading MP3’s became the new crate digging. My dormant, incubated appreciation for 'Endtroducing.....' was released a few years later when I heard it playing at a hostel in San Francisco and fell in love with it all over again and it has never really left my musical psyche since.
UNKLE and authenticity
Post-Endtroducing, Davis continued to work from London and went on to collaborate with Mo Wax’s James Lavelle on the UNKLE project. The highly anticipated ‘Psyence Fiction’ album drew in a host of incredible names from Thom Yorke and Richard Ashcroft to Mike D from the Beastie Boys in a cartoonish, hip hop led, stylish, super group, hidden behind the two UNKLE characters and laying the blueprint for Gorillaz and other mythical groups.
Shadow infamously left UNKLE shortly after the release with Lavelle requesting writing credits on the Shadow produced tracks and the two seeming to grow apart. Shadow preferred to concentrate on his own projects and collaborations with artists from his Quannum collective (affiliated with artists like Lateef the Truth Speaker, Blackalicious and Souls of Mischief who I recently profiled for their 30th anniversary Vancouver show) whom he felt he was neglecting by focusing on UNKLE. The story is covered well (albeit from Lavelle’s perspective) in The Man from Mo Wax documentary and the two have since buried the hatchet with Shadow performing at Lavelle's UNKLE Meltdown exhibition/festival in Southbank London.
Since leaving UNKLE, Shadow has gone on to release numerous solo albums primarily exploring the fusion of electronic and hip hop sounds, even splitting these genres across two albums on his 2020 release ‘Our Pathetic Age’. Until now I haven’t engaged deeply with his modern back catalogue, apart from a dip in and out for each new release and finding a standout track here and there. Having re-engaged with his work for a radio show celebrating his history I have found a golden thread and a new appreciation for the artist, music and man that is DJ Shadow.
DJ Shadow returns to Vancouver Vogue
Shadow’s live show has seen an evolution similar to that of his production career over my lifetime. My first Shadow experience, discounting a Shadow-less UNKLE show in 2007, was his incredible Shadowshepre Orb tour in a hotel function room in Galway back in 2011 where I was lucky to be handed one of a few mix CDs from Shadow himself (I hope it will turn up in a storage box some day!). I also attended the London ‘Mountain Will Fall’ tour in 2016 in service of the heavy electronic soundscape album of the same name which remains one of my favourite modern Shadow outputs.
So on to this show. After a fast paced warm up from Holly which put the Vogue Theatre sound system through the motions, DJ Shadow took to the stage to a warm and appreciative reception. He gave a brief intro in which he thanked fans, asked people to be respectful of those looking for a phone free experience and acknowledged how privileged he was to be playing his first North American show in 7 years.
Shadow opened with blade runner style graphics over his ‘Slingblade’ track from 2019’s ‘Our Pathetic Age’ double album. Track names were helpfully displayed over visuals throughout the show with a pre-set backing mix which Shadow scratched, and even drummed, over throughout using an electronic drum set that sat above his Pioneer DJ setup.
Shadow moved through a number of tracks from this era, dropping in some earlier edits such as an unrecognizable ‘Scale it Back’ production with Little Dragon, rarely tapping into 90’s or even early 00’s materials in keeping with his commitment to pushing things forward. There were some exceptions with UNKLE’s Richard Ashcroft collaboration ‘Lonely Soul’ receiving a strong reception and mixing nicely back to ‘C.O.N.F.O.R.M.’, a song featuring clever raps depicting the modern experience of technology and social media from a selection of Quannum artists.
The standout moment for me was the dropping of the weighty ‘Juggernaut’ accompanied by striking visuals of dandelions and deserts in keeping with the deep, heavy drum patterns. Similar soundscapes and tracks were paired with some of Shadows' slower, high production value tracks such as ‘The Mountain Will Fall’ which followed an astronaut through a space of purple and dark red in keeping with the album cover for this title track.
Another section of the show went through some of Shadow’s more recent brash hip hop tracks with notable collaborations that keep some of the aforementioned depth of sound but with a contemporary hip hop outlook. Shadow rattled through songs like ‘Systematic’ featuring Nas, the fast paced ‘Rosie’, ‘Kings and Queens’ with Run the Jewels and Shadows ‘Holy Calamity’ production with Handsome Boy Modelling School, a project from one of DJ Shadows inspirations, sampling pioneer Prince Paul.
Shadow gave a specific shout out to Todd Curry who he said may or may not have been in the crowd and had been another big influence on his work and his creative approach showing him the possibilities of sampling through his old mix tapes. He also called out the new single tracks ‘You Played Me’ and ‘Ozone Scraper’ on separate occasions. These tracks, among other singles from previous albums, were accompanied by their music video rather than curated visuals which took away from the incredible aesthetic of the first part of the show somewhat but not enough to affect the overall experience.
The goose bump inducing keys of ‘Blood on the Motorway’ took us into an electronic interlude which brought a slight lull, and featured extended drumming from Shadow, but this pre-empted and set up a final lift with some big crowd favourites like ‘Nobody speak’, ‘This Time (I’m going to try things my way)’ and ‘Six Days’.
For the encore Shadow announced it was time to ‘have some fun’ and launched into 'Endtroducing.....' classic ‘Organ Donor’ and recent hit ‘Rocket Fuel’ with De La Soul with Shadow mentioning it had been a dream come true to be able to work with such an iconic act before saying goodbye…until next time.
Action Adventure: A new direction inspired by forgotten cassettes
Approaching Shadows latest release I had a certain amount of optimism but also the inherent and aforementioned expectations. The pre-released ‘Ozone Scraper’ was a big gear shift, even in spite of previous left turns, and sounded like a throwback to fast-paced, arcade-based, 80’s-inspired, retro video game soundtracks. Like the rest of the album it has grown on me but in my opinion this track is probably one of the hardest to warm to given its sheer pace and garishness. It seems an odd choice as the opening track but it could have been chosen as a statement of intent which it certainly is.
The next track ‘All My’ is a standout, taking things down a notch but keeping some ‘in your face’ drum and vocal patterns with the repetition of the line ‘all my records and tapes’. A hint of softer keys comes in that really makes the track. It’s after this where I feel the album really shows itself. Time and space has a beautiful airy opening before bringing in some simple baselines and synths with hints of the arcade feel of ‘Ozone Scraper’ but with more depth and subtly that defines the overall feeling of the album. ‘Craig, Ingles and Wrightson’ follows a similar pattern and is equally hypnotic.
Shadow was apparently inspired to make this album after buying a set of old radio station shows recorded on cassettes and there are nods to this throughout with the sound of tape decks and 80’s instrumentals. As Shadow describes in an interview on the ‘Q with Tom Power’ podcast, it’s nice to lean into the seduction of nostalgia for a while.
‘Witches and Warlocks’ is a strong track in a similar vein and ‘A Narrow Escape’ ups the tempo with break beat drums without veering too far from the albums aesthetic before the second single ‘You Played Me’. This song really sets out the new direction and sounds more like a familiar but forgotten single from an electro R&B group than a DJ Shadow edit. It has a beautiful balance and hook which Shadow apparently stumbled upon by playing the instrumental and vocal side by side by dropping the needle on each at the same time on his first listen, a technique he also used on one of his most commercially successful hits ‘Six Days’ from ‘The Private Press’ album in 2001.
‘Free For All’ opens with a cotton-eye-joe style country guitar riff and hip hop beats which has been a hallmark of Shadows post 'Endtroducing.....' work. It seems every album over the last decade has at least one song in this style and it is one which personally has been hard to engage with but works to a degree here, albeit a bit out of step with the overall theme of the album. Shadow has used a similar approach on past hit ‘Nobody Speak’ with Run the Jewels and ‘This Time’ where he states boldly ‘this time I'm going to do this my way’. I feel like somewhere in Shadow’s subconscious he has a desire to release a country album or song but isn’t quite ready to go there!
‘The Prophecy’ slows things right down again with a haunting melody over deep bass and strings before opening up synths and tighter string arrangements. ‘Friend or Foe’ builds on that taking things back to the simple, video game villain motif. ‘Fleeting Youth’ and ‘Forever Changed’ are again really lovely and tender arrangements broken up by ‘Reflecting Pools’, a drum laden bubbler before ‘She's Evolving’ finishes things perfectly, incorporating lofty lyric less vocal patterns that interact well with the mid-level synths and and rougher broken beat.
Overall it is a gorgeously produced album with just the right balance of nostalgia, weight and hip hop sentimentalities. I did wonder if the placement of tracks and ordering of the album would be better building slowly towards a peak and falling again rather than the quite swift shifts in momentum and blistering opening but who am I to question the master of texture and mood. This is an album that refines Shadow once again and clears the pallet after ‘Our Pathetic Age’s swipe at modern culture. A modern interpretation after a step backwards in time.
End...tering a new era - the journey continues
During the recent live show Shadow mentioned that he thought about packing things in after the collapse of his ‘Our Pathetic Age’ tour due to Covid but it feels like he has been re-invigorated and has more to say and ways of saying it with this latest album and tour. All creativity comes with ebbs and flows but is lost when it ceases to be true to the artists intent and what they want to create for themselves.
Shadows pursuit of his own sound whether through hip hop samples, 80’s instrumentals or ye-haw country riffs is his expression of what he holds most true and I think overall that to me is what matters most. I look forward to the next step in the journey.
Download 'Deeper Grooves w/ Linchi: DJ Shadow special', a 90 minute mix exploring everything from Endtroducing..... to Action Adventure via the link below:
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Immersed in sound Vancouver
Mac DeMarco’s Five Easy Hot Dogs in 4DSOUND at Lobe
Here I am, lying on the ground of a small East Hastings studio space in complete darkness, surrounded by soft yoga furnishings and the shadows of other hidden guests while being soothed by the vibrations of a bass string reverberating through my body as a gentle acoustic guitar rift pleasantly echoes in the right corner of my skull. It wasn’t what I expected when I booked a last minute ticket for the Mac DeMarco Artist Residency at the Lobe, but then again I had made my decision by reading a one sentence listing in a free magazine I picked up from the rusty flier-rack outside Beat Street Records an hour previous.
From reading the article/sentence I realized this was the last weekend of the show so I quickly booked a ticket and made my way East to find out what it was all about. I’d anticipated a high falutin gallery showcase of the album, potentially with some artistic creations from DeMarco with a mix of snooty-nods and chin-scratching from a combination of bored art students and semi lucid stoner fans wandering aimlessly and commenting on how visceral and interesting the whole thing was. I’m not sure quite where I fit into the demographic, probably a curious newcomer to Vancouver with a peripheral knowledge and appreciation for Mac DeMarco and his seemingly laidback ideals, looking to grasp onto some kind of familiarity and maybe meet some like-minded locals.
Entering the darkness of East Van
At first I struggled to even find the space as I nervously navigated the notorious East Hastings strip for the first time, so my chances of charming fellow DeMarco enjoyers was looking slim. I was attending alone so I thought being fashionably late would be most appropriate but when I finally found the entrance I got a better sense of what was to come and was politely shushed and led (shoeless) by the smiley staff towards the soft, darkened space behind the entrance as a latecomer during what I soon realized was an allocated time slot for an album listen through.
I quietly crept in and felt my way towards a cushioned mat so as not to disturb other sleepy guests in the space having missed the first few tracks. It took me a few minutes to settle into the experience but once I did it became an incredibly soothing, sonic, sound bath. I had listened to the album being showcased, Five Easy Hotdogs, for the first time on the way to the gallery and it felt like a soft and humble acoustic experiment but this was the album reborn, fit for purpose and being understood on a whole new level. Without wanting to venture into high falutin hyperbole myself it really was a visceral and quite moving way to take in the curated musical pieces. It felt like these songs had been crafted with the wider project in mind and the experience was what I’d expect from a Japanese listening bar, but perhaps even more intimate. The whole concept felt like a more nuanced side of DeMarco that is sometimes hinted at on album tracks but not fully realized.
Five Easy Hotdogs - A journey into the inner musical landscape of Mac DeMarco
The album itself is remarkably simple but a natural evolution of DeMarco’s usual charming, lo-fi, indie, slacker pop. It feels like wandering down a laneway and getting lost in forgotten B-sides that actually end up having more depth, softness, and subtlety in a way that DeMarco has maybe been too apprehensive to explore in the past. The instrumental soundscapes makes it feel like hanging out in Mac DeMarco’s private world for an extended stay without the pressure of engaging with the lyrics, jokes, stories or a defined album structure. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the previous albums and DeMarco’s approach, why else would I be there, but it’s a welcome sidestep and creative gear shift towards something more experimental (this wander through a hidden world of instrumental demos can be explored even further by checking out DeMarco's latest release of over 199 instrumental songs entitled ‘One Wayne G’).
The track listing is also quite interesting with the tracks named after different cities (Gualala, Crescent City, Portland, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Chicago and Rockaway) some of which are in multiples of 1, 2 and 3 which gives them the feel of session experiments or discarded tour demos. Vancouver 3 was the standout for me both lying in the space and during a follow up listen. The track gently draws you in with repetitive bass and rhythmic guitar string picks before the bass-line shifts focus with a smoothly strummed pay off that feels even more satisfying as it trembles through your bones via the Lobe’s 36 channel spatial sound system powered by 4DSOUND, a collaboration with Lobe co-founder and musician Edo Van Breeman. The album is filled with these types of moments, with other standout tracks such as Gualala and Portland 2, and they feel more significant and almost nostalgic listening back, a reminder of the depth of sound and sense of separation in the instruments as they moved skilfully around the room.
Easing back into reality
At the end of session the voice of Mac DeMarco reassuringly brought sleepy listeners out of the instrumental slumber with some light quips and goofy jokes about wandering out into the streets of East Hastings “I know you don’t want to leave, I know it’s Hastings, I know, I know”, but as I left the space, shoeless and without having the opportunity to connect with any hip Vancouverites I felt grounded, relaxed, and satisfied. The pink, hazy Vancouver skyline and harsh reality of East Hastings brought things slowly back into focus but I’d had the opportunity to connect with the music of Mac DeMarco and the process of listening to music in general in a new and unexpected way.
#mac demarco#vancouver#music review#lo fi#art#East Hastings#Review#slacker rock#instrumental#album review#Exhibition
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Surrealism - Exploring art through the unconscious
“The surrealist revolution has this incalculable advantage of bringing the irrational into everyday life and of having made unknown known to men the treasures of the unconscious…poetry thus has an end. The absolute liberation of man.” Malcolm de Chazal, 1960
I’ve been finding myself drawn to a lot of different surrealist art forms recently and wanted to join the dots and share my experience of what I have found in my short exploration of this fascinating, peculiar and sometimes unnerving world.
Engaging with "art"
Despite being a sensitive person by nature who generally appreciates and experiences things deeply, I sometimes find "art", purposely in inverted commas, difficult to engage with. There can be a palpable snobbishness and elitism around art which seems fundamentally at odds with the very concept of creativity, and many of the people who create it. I wanted to start off by saying that I look at art through a purely instinctive lens as somebody with no real background in the theory or history of art (beyond a brief introduction in secondary school!), but nonetheless I’ve had an urge to delve into this world and my early preference seems to be towards the surreal.
Looking at things through a Lynchian lens
My appetite for what I’m starting to understand as surrealist art was triggered by an interest in David Lynch and his work. I was intrigued by an interview I heard with him where he spoke passionately about his creative process which was centred around Transcendental Meditation (TM) and going to the deepest parts of his psyche in service to creativity. He seemed fully committed to getting to the very core of his being to unearth the truest expression of what he called the ‘collective consciousness’ and express that through stories and symbols without compromise.
In Lynch’s ground-breaking TV series Twin Peaks there is an odd but captivating sense of connection and meaning behind the dreamlike messages and symbols that drive the narrative of the show, sometimes speaking more directly and resonating more deeply than the actual dialogue or more traditional story arch. I was struck by the honesty and also the determination to touch on the darkest and strangest parts of a subject in order to tell the full unfiltered story through his work and this commitment to true expression has underpinned my own interest in other works of this kind.
The importance of authenticity of spirit
This theme of authenticity also came through for me when watching The Radiant Child, a documentary on the life of Brooklyn born expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was equally inspired by Basquiat’s search for truth and his understanding of the burgeoning art scene around him and how this shaped his existence but didn’t compromise his integrity. He stuck to his artist principles no matter what and ironically in the long term this is what drew the more mainstream world of fine art to him.
I felt a similar outlook from Craig Richards in his interview with Resident Advisor last month when he spoke about the process he follows when DJing and painting and how he just wants the very best and truest expression to come through. "Devotion is the main aim”. He seems to connect deeply with the culture but again as his own uncompromising self.
Further immersion and exposure to surrealism - Dali and other masters
So back to my own journey with surrealism. While making my way through Season 2 of Twin Peaks I noticed the Tate Modern museum was hosting an exhibition on surrealism so I marked it in my diary and went along last August. Not sure what to expect, I was most struck by art that wasn’t art. The surrealist movement felt inclusive in the way that anything can be considered art. The exhibition included doodles on train tickets and photographs of little skulls sat beside more traditional, albeit obscure, paintings as well as film loops of increasingly bizarre scenarios. Salvador Dali’s iconic lobster telephone sat front and centre connecting two seemingly unrelated objects in an attempt to trigger deeper meanings by warping traditional outlooks.
Dali was the one name I had encountered before. I didn’t know why I knew him, but I knew him. Joining the Salvador Dali Surrealist World exhibition at the Chali-Rosso Art Gallery in Vancouver (https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/salvador-dalis-surreal-world-tickets-646654841037) last week I learned that this seems to have been part of his artist concept. He wanted to become famous and have himself become part of the performance.
The free Dali exhibition was held in a tight, bright gallery near the top floor of a hotel at the waterfront near Canada Place and displayed some of his original drawings, painting, sculptures and etchings. It kicked off with a talk on Dali by the gallery host who gave a knowledgeable whistle stop tour of Dali’s life from his obsessive relationship with his wife (and his own moustache) to the motivation and meaning behind some of his most famous works on display which included his melting clock sculptures and his depiction of Dante's Divine Comedy trilogy which is now next on my book list.
Before moving on to that book series I need to finish another surrealist masterpiece, Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman, which brings readers through a weird and wonderful Alice in Wonderland style journey through rural Ireland using the philosophy of fictional psychologist De Selby to underpin the descent of a man into madness as he encounters a police officer who believes his colleagues and friends are turning into bicycles.
The gallery also featured pieces by Picasso and Mr. Brainwash, the man profiled in Exit Through the Giftshop, a 2010 documentary that examines the commodification of graffiti by sharing the story of Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) and Banksy and bends the walls between reality and fiction by challenging viewers to decide if the documentary itself is real or imagined.
Eerie, unpredictable and inspiring
There is something uniquely imaginative and exciting about surrealism that I’m keen to explore both as an observer and in my own small way as a creator. I’ve tried to incorporate aspects of this in my mixes over the last year (check this one out) and want to expand this more widely having been inspired by David Lynch, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dali, Craig Richards and Rick Rubin who in his new book ‘The Creative Act’ encourages everyone to be an artist.
Despite its obscurity, surrealism seems to be the artistic language that speaks to me most clearly for now.
#graffiti#djing#surrealism#art#salvador dali#basquiat#craig richards#david lynch#twin peaks#rick rubin#banksy
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93 ’til infinity and beyond
Hip hop royalty celebrate 30 years of their iconic 93 ’til infinity album at the Hollywood Theatre - Post by Mark Lynch (aka Linchi)
Earlier this month I hobbled along to the Souls of Mischief gig at the iconic Hollywood Theatre on West Broadway having spotted the name of the cali hip hop group in lights on the retro cinema sign above the ticketing desk. I’d recently arrived in Vancouver, so this felt like the shot of nostalgia I needed, and having injured my knee during a close encounter with the Skytrain escalator the previous Saturday, I needed all the disseshowedo dopamine I could get.
After spotting the sign I scoured the internet for tickets only to be disappointed to find out both shows were sold out so I made a mental note to check in on the way back from beers in the city to see if I could cop a late ticket on the door. After a couple of pints in the hazy sunshine at R&B brewing I jumped on the 99 towards Kitsilano. I made a quick exit from the back of the bus, wadded through wafts of smoke and approached the doorman who agreed to let me in at face value. I grabbed a pint of lager and made my way to the front.
93 dates from 93 ‘til
Souls of Mischief embarked on a 93 date world tour in February of this year starting in their home of California before hitting the UK, Europe and a host of cities across the US. The jazz infused, tribe affiliated quartet of Opio, A-Plus, Phesto and Tajai burst onto the stage clad head to toe in matte black tour merch jackets and bucket hats to a warm and admirative reception with some of the more hardcore fans holding vinyl copies of 93 til’ joyously aloft.
After 30 years, and 74 of 93 gigs this year alone, the group showed no signs of fatigue as they energetically blazed through their uniquely laidback but punchy discography to a backdrop of trippy crawling visuals. The set was polished, engaging and packed with plenty of heart, humour and tales from 3 decades of grateful service to hip hop. The song selection and performance was tight, kicking off with 93 ‘til opener Let ‘Em Know and sliding between 93 ‘til classics and occasional back catalogue indulgences that included numbers from guests in attendance who were charmingly introduced and celebrated.
On numerous occasions I promised myself (and my knee) that I would stop bopping in the Hollywood theatres steep and sticky pit and take a seat in the cinema seats flanking the crowd but that never happened. I thought that as someone aware of the Souls of Mischief's influence, but only really familiar with their seminal album, there would be a lot of unfamiliar territory and dips through the evening but it was a testament to the groups stage presence and personality that as the show went on it became even more engrossing.
Hieroglyphic history lesson
About halfway through the night we were given a brief history of the roots of the ‘Hieroglyphics’, an underground hip hop collective made up of the Souls of Mischief and other Oakland acts including Casual and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, who A-Plus briefly teased was tonight's special guest - causing a collective gasp before revealing it was a rouse. The group called out key contributors and gave hieroglyphic hand signs before A-Plus led some crowd participation for ‘Batting Practice’ with the chorus ‘It’s like this y’all, it’s like that y’all, I swing a hieroglyphic baseball bat y’all’.
‘What a way to go out’
Looking around, the crowd were getting loose, but spirits were kept alive by the crews DJ who followed in the educational theme by mixing a medley of hip hop classics from Grandmaster Flash to KRS-One before a final scratch dropped in ‘93’ til infinity’ sending the crowd wild and teeing the Souls of Mischief up to use their hieroglyphic baseball bats to smash it out of the park. The group ended by graciously thanking everyone who has contributed to their story including the Vancouver crowd, the Hollywood Theatre staff and anyone who has enjoyed their music from those listening back in 93 to those born in 93.
After the final shout outs I made my way out and limped home with a full heart, reflecting on a night of homage to 30 years of the Souls of Mischief, 50 years of hip hop and a lifetime of gratitude from fans across the globe to an iconic group who created a song, an album and a cultural movement that has lasted the test of time, from 93 ‘til infinity.
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