LOX – Money, Power and Longevity (Concert Review)

I was ready for the last concert of this long and busy week.

 

The Arena venue located in downtown Montreal was packed with a much older and different crowd than the two last concerts I attended. The pouring rain didn’t stop these hip hop heads to attend this Rap rendez-vous.

Unlike the Bun B show, the crowd got to enjoy fewer guest performances before the main act arrived. The first group to perform was  E.M.G. a Toronto based rap trio. The group  has already open acts for Pusha-T, M.O.P. and even recorded a song with Spragga Benz, better known as Wayne in 2002’s Shottas. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Toronto group EMG were the first to perform.

The second performer was Peter Jackson, a Canadian rapper who has been grinding for a few years now. Having toured with Waka Flocka, Juicy J and even French Montana, Jackson still finds time to work  on his music, which you can find on http://www.peterjacksonmusic.ca

 

Around one o’clock , the wait was finally over. After seeing Styles with Sheek or Ghostface with Sheek again it was  time for The LOX to be finally reunited. The music selection was obvious (from a fan perspective) but oh was it reminiscent of the good old days. The trio kicked off the show with New York City  but  took us back to the 90’s era with several hits like All About The Benjamins , Money, Power, Respect and Ride or Die Chick. Since all tree had successful solo careers, if was only right for us to  knock our fists on Jada’s Knock Yourself Out or cross our two arms while singing Locked Up from Styles P. Of course, Sheek Louch’s Good Love is always a good song to make ladies dance.

 

LOX performing

 

 

It’s a pretty known fact that Styles P loves Montreal weed. What better way to perform his song  I Get High then to distribute cigarillos, blunts and rolling papers to excited fans ? Another great moment of the night was when Styles P (again) jumped out of stage to ride with his fans. Having done that  a few years ago was still surprising to me because this venue is a lot bigger than the previous one. I guess the mass of vultures did not scare the New Yorker.

Styles P lighting up on stage.

Seeing The LOX together for the first time of Canada was a great hip hop moment for myself and everyone who attended this much anticipated reunion. While some rappers run after money and power, this group proves that respect takes time to built and is the only real proof of success.

 

Rule number 1: Don’t rub Styles P in the wrong way, even if you’re his number 1 fan.

Rule number 2:  Message to all Montreal venues : If you’re gonna have a group signing autograph on 300 t-shirts, make sure you have solid tables. Let’s just say hell broke loose at 3 am.

Rule number 3: no rules…Jadakiss is still cute from his Ruff Ryders day. Muaaa

 

 

 M.U.L.A Grade: 9/10…Can’t wait for these 3 to come back. No beef, just crazy groupies.

 

 

Ghostface Killah/ Beenie Man, April 24th & 25th Concert Reviews

Thursday night at Le Belmont felt like 2013 all over again. A few minutes after Pretty Toney appeared on stage, fans were surprised (or not) to see one third of the rap group The Lox, Sheek Louch. I was overly happy about this surprise guest since I’m a big fan of Wu Block, or just Sheek Louch. However, it would have been nice to see Ghostface not accompanied this time. Nonetheless, Ghost & Sheek definitely brought their usual New York swag to the chilly Thursday night.Both rappers each took their turn to perform their own tracks and a few singles from their Wu Block album. The fans and I got the pleasure to hear Kiss your ass goodbye,New York City and Good Love from Sheek. As for the main guy, well he gave us a bit of  1990’s (C.R.E.A.M) and some early 2000 (Cherchez La Ghost) which is what you would expect for a rapper having this kind of longevity in the game.

Shaolin also gave a warm heart-felt shootout to his good friend, the late Ol Dirty Bastard. What better song then Shimmy Shimmy Ya  to remember the crazy ODB. Right after that, Sheek Louch thanked the late Notorious Big for paving the way for rappers like him. Hypnotize was the chosen song.

To finish up the show, Ghostface gave a few bars on a remix of Tomorrow, a Broadway musical classic. That is some real NY shh..

 

This rap trio was the first to open up the show.

 

 

Dancehall/Reggae songstress Empire Isis would have been a better fit to open the show for Beenie Man.

 

 

I got the chance to get a quick snapshot with Sheek Louch. Nothing with Ghostface. I won’t complain about the signed t-shirt I got though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ain’t nothing but a Wu Thang. Crop top (Viss Brand) Baggy leather pants (Brooklyn, Nyc) Shoes (Jordan Spizike)

 

 

M.U.L.A Grade: 8.5/10 The performance was quite good. It was just a bit weird to see Ghostface complaining again about the same stage lighting problems he had a year ago (he really hates red lights), or him and Sheek asking a member of the audience to cover ODB’s verse on Proteck Ya Neck. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

This doesn’t happen all the time (as you will read below) so I need to say how much the Montreal opening acts were awesome. Rappers like Mac Vybz, 80 Rock , Full Course (alongside DJ Pro V with the funky dancers) and the charismatic Ceasrock  literally gave us a show ”inside a show”.Best of luck to these guys.

 

 

 

Beenie Man

 

Still a bit tired from the previous night, I was ready for a hip hop break. At least 200 reggae fanatics were waiting for the dancehall king. We waited 2h30 am to be exact. Yes, 2h30 am. The waiting was not even that bad  at first, thanks to the Djs who played old and new school reggae.Then came the pre-performers. Roby Nova, who is Beenie’s new protégé gave us a loud and unpleasant cover of Bruno Mars’ Just the Way You Are. Not a good choice of song for a dancehall party. Of course, the singer apologized for his lateness and didn’t waist anytime to hype up the crowd. Performing hits like Who Am I, King of the Dancehall, Romie, Feel it Boy and Gimme Gimme made a few of us forget what we experienced a few minutes before his entrance.

 

 

Friday Night elegance. Head scarf (Hermes Vintage) Dress (Winners) Brown Booties (Miami,Fl) Clutch (Guess) Earrings and bracelets (H&M)

 

You can’t deny it, Beenie always gives a heartfelt performance to his fans.

 

 

M.U.L.A Grade: 7/10  Beenie definitely made the girls ”whine” to his numerous dancehall hits. Although the king still gave us an hour show, he should not make his loyal subjects wait so long.

 

 

If you want to get the Wu Block album:

 

If you want to get The Best of Beenie Man: