Although near-freezing weather conditions pierced the area last Friday night, storms of boisterous young men and women still packed the Pearl Street Ballroom to witness rapper Curren$y
Before Curren$y, known as “The Hot Spitta” to his passionate fan base, took his place on the stage, the crowd was first given a taste of some local flavor to satisfy their hip-hop cravings.
After DJ Theory warmed up the turntables and played some bass-heavy rap tracks, Connecticut-based hip-hop group Split Second assumed its role on stage at precisely 9 p.m.
With their six-song set, the duo – comprised of rappers Xavier Louis “Xcel” Reed and Jared Jackson, also known as “JJax” – gave the crowd a treat by performing all never-before-heard songs, which will all appear on their forthcoming mixtape, “Barely Legal.”
Songs such as the appropriately-named “Friday” and “Barely Legal” gave a sense of what they were about, with a little something to energize the crowd as the night progressed.
Soon after, C-Banga nearly stole the show. C-Banga was accompanied by rapper Dre Cartier and a live band consisting of two guitarists, a drummer and a keyboardist as they performed hit after energetic hit.
The set was relatively short, but the group made the most of their opportunity. The end of their set was one of the most memorable moments of the night, consisting of a pure rock ‘n’ roll track with a solo from the guitarist, which also included hip-hop grooves. C-Banga and Cartier impressed with their lyricism, proclaiming themselves as rock stars and sending the energized crowd off its feet.
After an extended intermission in which the DJ played mainstream hits such as “Black & Yellow,” “No Hands” allowing the crowd to channel their inner-Charlie Sheen by reciting the lyrics to “All I Do Is Win,” UMass student Christian McCracken, referred to as L.A.N.K, took the stage in front of the packed ballroom.
There was no doubt that there was a drop of energy in his performance as opposed to C-Banga’s, but the Princeton, N.J. native proved his talent to the unfamiliar crowd before him.
Backed up by Soul Controller on the turntables, L.A.N.K started off slow, but eventually found his groove, spitting an a cappella version of “One of These Days” and giving honor to rapper J. Cole’s name with his version of “Who Dat.”
The UMass emcee did an effective job of ignoring a group of very young people up front – who tried to egg him into a rap battle one of their friends – but he went about his business like a true professional, and exited to a mix of cheers and boos.
A couple of Curren$y’s partners, Corner Boy P and Fiend, took control of the stage soon after L.A.N.K’s exit. The duo re-energized the crowd in anticipation of Spitta, especially Fiend, who seemingly greeted each attendee up front, urged everyone to “light up” and even posed for a camera snapping a picture of him.
After a few tracks, including hits such as “I Get Dough” and “One Way Ticket,” the two exited the stage to introduce the one and only Curren$y, who assumed the stage at about 10:45 p.m. to chants of “Spitta.”
The New Orleans, La. native more than satisfied the hungry crowd, performing a selection of songs from his two latest albums, “Pilot Talk” and “Pilot Talk II.”
Performing what seemed like a best-of from each album, Curren$y illustrated his “Life Under The Scope” while also rapping familiar tunes like “King Kong,” “Audio Dope II” and the first verse to the popular “Glass House,” which also features Wiz Khalifa.
Here and there, Spitta would motion to the DJ in the background to cease sound while he rapped off-the-dome freestyles and a cappella versions of songs, much to the delight of the audience. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the night came in the latter stage of the show, when Curren$y suddenly and surprisingly jumped off his platform into a sea of fans who were eager to lay their hands on the rap icon.
After a mosh pit effectively ensued around him, which tested the abilities of the Pearl Street security, Spitta was finally able to climb back onto the stage and out of sight, which spawned a “one more song” chant from the rambunctious crowd.
Curren$y happily obliged, offering them some late-night “Breakfast” a cappella-style as he exited the stage for good, leaving his unruly fans with another memorable chapter in the life of the Hot Spitta.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected].
